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Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of acupuncture treatment for persistent hiccups in cancer patients. Design: The study design was a retrospective case series. Settings/location: The study setting was the Clinical Research Center of the National Institutes of Health. Subjects: The subjects were 16 adult male patients ages 27–71 with cancer, with persistent hiccups. Interventions: There were one to three acupuncture sessions over a 1–7-day period. Outcome measures: Treatment efficacy was measured using a hiccup assessment instrument pre- and post-treatment. The effects of acupuncture on common symptoms reported by all patients were also evaluated. Results: Thirteen (13) patients experienced complete remission of persistent hiccups ( p < 0.0001); 3 patients experienced decreased hiccups severity. Significant improvement was observed in discomfort ( p < 0.0001), distress ( p < 0.0001), and fatigue ( p = 0.0078). Conclusions: This case series demonstrates that acupuncture may be a clinically useful, safe, and low-cost therapy for persistent hiccups in patients with cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses changes to the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) clinical practice guideline which covers the use of chemotherapy, biologic therapy, and molecular markers for stage IV non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in the U.S. It notes that the changes follow several regulatory actions regarding new agents approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). It mentions that the FDA and the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health have restricted the use of gefitinib in the released guideline.

Objectives: The International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer Staging and Prognostic Factors Committee-Thymic Domain conducted a web-based cross-sectional survey to assess the acceptance of the TNM thymic staging system in the thoracic community., Methods: A 50-item, web-based questionnaire was circulated among the members of the major thymic organizations worldwide from September to December 2018. The survey consisted of six sections (general information; overall perception of the TNM system; pretreatment staging; T category; N category; and perioperative treatments)., Results: In total, 217 responses were collected from 37 countries in four continents. The TNM classification was considered useful by 78% of the responders (N = 169); the Masaoka-Koga staging system was being used by 87% of the responders (N = 189). With regard to the T category, most responders (mostly surgeons) felt that the capsular and mediastinal pleural involvements should be considered separate T categories. As for the N category, 48% of the responders (N = 105) used the International Thymic Malignancies Interest Group/International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer thymic nodal map, and lymph node dissection (N1/N2) was performed for 50%/21% thymomas and 66%/41% thymic carcinomas. While analyzing the results by the three continents (Europe, Asia, and Americas), responders in Asia were found to report the largest use of the TNM system, the greatest attention to the N category, and the best participation in international thymic databases., Conclusions: The survey indicates that the Union for International Cancer Control/American Joint Committee on Cancer TNM stage classification of thymic tumors is gaining acceptance among the scientific community. The present results will guide the work of the Staging and Prognostic Factors Committee-Thymic Domain for the revision of the ninth edition of the TNM stage classification of thymic tumors., (Copyright © 2019 International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Mesothelin is a cell surface glycoprotein which is highly expressed in several epithelial cancers and may have a role in cell adhesion and metastases. In this study, we used prospectively obtained clinical and pathological data to characterize mesothelin expression in advanced lung adenocarcinoma. Tissue was obtained from patients who underwent molecular profiling of potentially actionable genes on a trial of molecular profiling and targeted therapies in advanced thoracic malignancies. We immunohistochemically evaluated the intensity, and the percentage of cells expressing mesothelin in 93 advanced lung adenocarcinomas. The evaluation was blinded for molecular data and outcome. Mutations of EGFR, KRAS, BRAF, AKT1, PIK3CA and HER2 were assessed by pyrosequencing; HER2 amplification and ALK translocation were assessed by fluorescence in situ hybridization. 53% of advanced lung adenocarcinomas expressed mesothelin to some degree; high mesothelin expression, defined as mesothelin positivity in more than 25% of cells, was found in 24% of patients. High mesothelin expression was associated with inferior survival (median 18.2 months vs. 32.9 months; P = 0.014). High mesothelin expression was strongly associated with mutant KRAS (P < 0.0001) and wild-type EGFR (P = 0.002). Our results provide strong rationale to explore anti-mesothelin targeted therapies in advanced lung adenocarcinoma especially in the KRAS-mutant subgroup.