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Interstitial lung diseases (ILDs) are associated with an increased risk of lung cancer, and pulmonary resection is well known to be associated with high postoperative morbidity and mortality in lung cancer patients. Postoperative mortality rate of acute exacerbation( AE) was reported 33.3~100%. Sex, CRP, KL-6, %vital capacity( VC), forced expiratory volume in 1 second( FEV1.0), history of AE, preoperative steroid use, and surgical procedures were identified as possible risk factors of AE in the univariate analyses by the data obtained from patients with non-small cell lung cancer who had undergone pulmonary resection and presented with a clinical diagnosis of ILD between January 2000 and December 2009 at 64 institutions throughout Japan. Multivariate analysis using these factors identified surgical procedures except for wedge resection, history of AE, KL-6, %VC, and male sex as independent risk factors. A score by risk prediction for AE was 5 X (history of AE)+4 X (CT:UIP pattern)+3 X (gender:male)+3 X (preoperative steroid use)+2 X (KL-6>1,000 U/ml)+1 X (VC≤80%). The predicted probability of risk score 15~22 is>0.25, and risk score 11~14 is 0.1~0.25. We can use a simple risk scoring system comprising seven parameters to identify high risk patients for AE, and provide essential information to support fair and objective clinical decision-making by thoracic surgeons.

Many researchers have reported that the sentinel node (SN) theory has been established for lung cancer. However, sentinel node navigation surgery (SNNS) has not yet become a routine medical procedure in lung cancer surgery. SN identification is important for efficient retrieval of micrometastases. Methods for identifying SNs include the dye method and the radioisotope (RI) method, but methods such as the indocyanine green (ICG) method, computed tomographic lymphography (CTLG), and the magnetic method are also being studied. More careful surgical adaptation is required for reduction surgery for early lung cancer, and rapid intraoperative diagnosis is frequently used. SN lymph nodes may be used as an indicator for selecting lymph nodes to be diagnosed intraoperatively. SN identification is considered an important method for ensuring that reduction surgery is curative. Furthermore, if overlooking lymph node metastases can be avoided by using intraoperative rapid diagnosis of micrometastases, we believe that the safety of reduction surgery will be enhanced. In addition, SN identification provides a theoretical basis to support the omission of lymph node dissection. Future developments of SN research and technology are expected.

Systematic lymph node dissection in radical operation for lung cancer is recognized as an operative procedure which is accurate staging. In clinical early-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), if the nodes are negative, complete mediastinal lymph node dissection might be omitted. Selective mediastinal dissection for clinico-surgical stage I NSCLC proved to be as effective as complete dissection. When lymph node metastasis was observed, segmentectomy was converted to lobectomy. Sentinel node( SN) identification is useful to determine the final indication of minimally invasive surgery by targeting the lymph nodes needed for intraoperative frozen section diagnosis. Many evidences suggest that prognosis of NSCLC with lymph node micrometastases (LNMM) is poor compared with those without LNMM. Evaluation of micrometastases of all dissected lymph nodes may be substituted by evaluating micrometastases of SNs. SN identification is important to the efficiency of micrometastases detection of intraoperative diagnosis. To perform a minimally invasive surgery, evaluation of lymph nodes micrometastases in SN is required.

Due to the recent advances in radiological diagnostic technology, the role of video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery in thoracic disease has expanded, surgical indication extended to the elderly patients. Cancer patients receiving surgery, radiation therapy and/or chemotherapy may encounter complications in conjunction with the oral cavity such as aspiration pneumonia, surgical site infection and various type of infection. Recently, it is recognized that oral health care management is effective to prevent the postoperative infectious complications, especially pneumonia. Therefore, oral management should be scheduled before start of therapy to prevent these complications as supportive therapy of the cancer treatment. In this background, perioperative oral function management is highlighted in the remuneration for dental treatment revision of 2012,and the importance of oral care has been recognized in generally. In this manuscript, we introduce the several opinions and evidence based on the recent previous reports about the perioperative oral health care and management on thoracic surgery.

Acute mediastinitis is an infectious disease of differentiated etiology, characterized by a rapid and severe course. Causes, diagnosis, and treatment of acute mediastinitis was described. Our experience of descending necrotizing mediastinitis were demonstrated with chest X-ray, computed tomography (CT), and operative findings. Recognition, prompt diagnosis, and early treatment of the disease were emphasized.

Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) is a distinct genetic disorder due to the NF1 gene mutation which induces the aberrant activation of the RAS-signaling. Because RAS-related proteins function as oncogenic factors, NF1 patients frequently develop malignant tumors, especially of neural crest origin, such as peripheral nerve sheath. In addition, malignant tumors of the pancreas, colorectum, and lung have been reported to frequently arise in NF1 patients. However, the association between germ cell tumor and NF1 has not been clarified yet. A 29-year-old male with dyspnea was referred to our hospital because of the large mass in the anterior mediastinum and cervical lymph node swelling. The diagnosis was extragonadal germ cell tumor with cervical lymph node metastasis, and complete remission was obtained by multidisciplinary treatment consisted of combination chemotherapy and surgical resection. To our acknowledgement, this is the first case of extragonadal germ cell tumor in NF1 patients. We discuss the relevance between activation of the RAS-signaling and the development of germ cell tumor.

Increasing in patients with cardiac disease, it is estimated that the patients with receiving coronary artery stents implantation occur frequently at the time of surgery against lung cancer. However, the anti-thrombotic therapy in perioperative period is not well established. We reviewed the medical records of 934 patients who underwent pulmonary resection for primary lung cancer in our institute from March 1997 to November 2014. The cardiac disease was observed 101 patients, including 9 patients were implanted bare-metal stents( BMS) and 6 patients were done drug-eluting stents( DES). The interval to surgery after stent implantation was almost over 1-month in BMS-group (median:18 months) and more than 1-year in DES-group( median:22.5 months). The anti-thrombotic therapy was interrupted less than 14-days in almost cases. The patients with receiving coronary artery stents implantation expected to be increased more in future, perioperative anti-thrombotic management protocols must be established.

Since locally advanced non-small-cell lung cancer(NSCLC)treated by surgical therapy alone has a poor prognosis, the efficacy of preoperative chemotherapy for improving postoperative survival in patients with NSCLC is controversial. A 69-year-old female was referred to our hospital for Stage IIIA(cT3bulkyN2M0)adenocarcinoma of the right lung. Computed tomography(CT)revealed a small nodule, 21mm in diameter, in the right S6, with isolated pulmonary metastasis in the same lobe and bulky subcarinal lymph node swelling. She received two courses of a combination of carboplatin(CBDCA AUC5), paclitaxel(PTX 200mg/m2)and bevacizumab(15mg/kg)as induction therapy, and showed no serious adverse effects. CT after induction therapy revealed a minor radiographic response. She underwent right lower lobectomy with node dissection 2a in 2011. An intercostal muscle flap was used for the bronchial stump. Histopathological examination revealed adenocarcinoma pT1aN0M0 of Stage I A, and showed that the pulmonary metastasis had disappeared even though the effect of induction chemotherapy was Ef2. Induction chemotherapy with carboplatin, paclitaxel and bevacizumab may be useful for treatment of locally advanced lung cancer.

Sentinel lymph node (SLN) mapping has become a common procedure in the treatment of breast cancer and malignant melanoma. Its primary benefit is that it enables surgeons to avoid nontherapeutic lymph node dissection and the complications that may follow. All present evidence demonstrates the existence of SLNs in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, SLN mapping is not widely used in the treatment of NSCLC for several reasons: first, special precautions are required to minimize exposure to radioisotopes; second, it is difficult to detect a dye within anthoracotic thoracic lymph nodes; and third, major complications comparable to the arm edema seen in breast cancer or the lymphedema and nerve injury seen in melanoma are not seen with mediastinal lymph node dissection. However, if the SLN mapping procedure were simplified, it could be used to avoid nontherapeutic mediastinal lymph node dissection in NSCLC. Recently, new applications of SLN mapping have been reported, such as the detection of lymph node micrometastases and segmentectomy for NSCLC. We expect SLN mapping to become a common clinical practice in the treatment of NSCLC in the near future

A 63-year-old female underwent lobectomy with ND2a lymph node dissection for left lung cancer in April 1999. Histopathological examination revealed moderately-differentiated adenocarcinoma (pT2N2M0, pStage III A). She received one course of a combination of etoposide (ETP) and cisplatin(CDDP)as adjuvant therapy, followed by oral intake of UFT. At 9 months post-operatively, she received radiation therapy for lymph node recurrence, at which time new multiple lung metastases were found. After receiving 3 courses of a combination of vinorelbine (VNR) and CDDP, a complete response (CR) of all metastatic lesions was achieved. Three years after the original surgery, metastatic lesions recurred, and a total of 9 courses of a combination of VNR and carboplatin (CBDCA) and partial resection of the right lung for pulmonary metastasis were performed in succession. Following this therapy, treatment with gefitinib was initiated for about 6 months, and computed tomography (CT) showed progressive disease. For 8 years following the original operation, the patient received oral chemotherapy using S-1 and has maintained CR on CT. We conclude that oral administration of S-1 is useful as palliative chemotherapy without serious adverse events or worsening of quality of life. Patients like this case are thus able to continue chemotherapy for a long time.

The detection rate of sentinel lymph nodes using isosulfan blue dye is too low for clinical use. Although exposure to radioactivity is reportedly minimal, special procedures are nonetheless required when a radioactive isotope is used as a tracer. Therefore, to eliminate the need for a radioactive tracer and to obtain a better detection rate than is currently obtained with isosulfan blue dye, we have developed a novel method that employs magnetite as the tracer. The tracer employed is ferumoxides, a colloidal superparamagnetic iron oxide of non-stoichiometric magnetite. The magnetic force within the lymph nodes was measured using a highly sensitive hand-held magnetometer ex vivo. The rate of detection of sentinel lymph nodes was 82% in non-small cell lung cancer. Intraoperative sentinel lymph node mapping using ferumoxides and a highly sensitive magnetometer is a safe, accurate, and sensitive way to detect sentinel lymph nodes. To detect sentinel lymph nodes in vivo, the magnetometer should be sterilized and the sensitivity of the magnetometer should be higher than that we used. Therefore now we are developing a more sensitive and sterilizable magnetometer.

A patient with non-seminomatous germ cell tumor of testis underwent operations for metastases in the lung and mediastinum three times, when the serum AFP level remained remarkably high despite of intensive chemotherapy, and has been disease-free for three years after the last treatment. Our experience illustrates that the salvage surgery even under high serum marker levels may provide a beneficial outcome for selected cases of chemotherapy-resistant germ cell tumors.