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Background: Components of the extracellular matrix play a fundamental role in the process of tumor invasion. The objective of this study was to evaluate the value of Type I collagen metabolites as tumor markers in patients with lung carcinoma., Methods: In this study, the serum concentrations of the cross-linked carboxyterminal telopeptide of Type I collagen (ICTP) and the aminoterminal propeptide of Type I collagen (PINP) were measured in 59 consecutive patients with lung carcinoma. The blood concentrations of neuron-specific enolase (NSE), carcinoembryogenic antigen (CEA), sialyl Le-1 antigen (SLX), squamous cell carcinoma antigen (SCC), and D-dimer were also evaluated. Data obtained on 18 age-matched healthy subjects and 12 age-matched patients with benign lung disease were available for comparison., Results: The serum concentrations of PINP were significantly higher in patients with lung carcinoma than in age-matched controls. Prechemotherapy values of PINP and ICTP were significantly increased in patients who did not respond to chemotherapy compared with those who did respond. PINP and ICTP were significantly correlated with clinical stage, extent of bone metastasis, survival time, and D-dimer. PINP was also significantly correlated with tumor size. ICTP was significantly correlated with CEA, SLX, SCC, and NSE. PINP also tended to correlate with these tumor-associated glycoproteins. PINP had a better receiver operating characteristic curve than ICTP. The specificity of PINP (79%) for the diagnosis of bone metastasis was superior to that of ICTP (58%)., Conclusions: The results of this study showed that, in addition to the important information that ICTP and PINP provide about the tumor cell-extracellular matrix interaction, they appear to be of great value as adjunct tools for the diagnosis of bone metastasis and as markers of the clinical response to therapy, clinical progression, and prognosis in lung carcinoma patients. However, more studies must be conducted to evaluate further the utility of these markers before their application in clinical practice.

A 79-year-old woman was given a diagnosis of scalp angiosarcoma. Treatment with interleukin-2 and radiotherapy aclieved a complete response. However, a few months later, the patient presented with multiple thin-walled cavitary metastases in the right lung and pneumothorax. The pneumothorax was successfully treated but soon relapsed. The patient died of respiratory failure at home. Lung metastasis of malignant tumors should be considered one cause of relapsing pneumothorax.

Background: The peripheral blood concentrations of several proteases of the clotting system have been shown to predict survival in patients with malignancy. A study was undertaken to investigate the independent value of the plasma levels of the D-dimer degradation product of fibrin before treatment for predicting prognosis in patients with lung cancer., Methods: The study comprised 70 patients with lung cancer (49 non-small cell lung cancer and 21 small cell lung cancer). Plasma levels of D-dimer were measured using an enzyme immunoassay kit. Multivariate statistical analysis was carried out using the Cox's proportional hazards model., Results: The median value of the plasma level of D-dimer differentiated two groups of patients with different outcomes: a group with a D-dimer level of < 150 ng/ml (low DD group) and those with D-dimer levels of > or = 150 ng/ml (high DD group). Survival time was significantly better in patients in the low DD group than in those in the high DD group in all patients (hazard ratio for high DD group = 4.7; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.8 to 11.7). The plasma levels of D-dimer predicted survival independently from the clinical stage of disease, histological type, performance status, and tumour size (hazard ratio = 3.9; 95% CI 1.6 to 9.2)., Conclusions: These results suggest that plasma levels of D-dimer might be useful for predicting the clinical outcome in patients with lung cancer. However, further prospective studies are needed in a larger population to confirm these findings.

Recently, abnormal expression of a great variety of adhesion molecules has been reported in malignancy. Of these adhesion molecules, intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) has been suggested to play an important role in the process of tumor invasion and distant metastasis. The purpose of this investigation was to assess the peripheral blood levels of soluble ICAM-1 and the effect of cytotoxic therapy upon these circulating molecules in a cohort of patients with lung cancer. This study comprised 19 lung cancer patients hospitalized in our institution (males 16 and females 3, mean age 60 years old). Serum concentration of soluble ICAM-1 was measured using a commercially available enzyme immunoassay test kit. These measurements were done before the initiation of any therapy and on day 5 of chemotherapy. Samples taken from healthy volunteers were available for comparison. Soluble ICAM-1 serum concentration was significantly higher (p < 0.0001) in the cancer patients as compared to that of the control group. Serum levels of ICAM-1 were more significantly (p < 0.02) elevated in patients with advanced stages of disease. This study suggests the presence of an increased expression of circulating adhesion molecules in lung cancer. The concentration of this adhesion molecule was correlated with the clinical stage of the malignant disease, but did not change significantly after multidrug cytotoxic therapy.

The occurrence of thrombotic complications is commonly associated with poor prognosis in patients with malignancy. However, the prognostic significance of the subclinical activation of the clotting system, frequently observed in cancer patients, is unknown. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the value of the pre-thrombotic state for predicting survival of lung cancer patients. This investigation comprised 70 lung cancer patients without clinical or laboratory diagnosis of intravascular coagulation. There were 49 cases with non-small and 21 with small cell carcinomas. Samples taken in controls were available for comparison. The clotting system was assessed measuring thrombin-antithrombin III complex (TAT) and plasmin-alpha 2-plasmin inhibitor complex (PAP). The independent value of these clotting markers to predict survival was evaluated in relation with previously well-established prognostic factors for lung cancer patients. Plasma concentration of each parameter was significantly higher in cancer patients as compared to that of controls. The plasma level of PAP was a predictor of survival independently from the stage of disease, sex, age, histological type, performance status, tumor size and the presence of distant metastasis. Discriminant analysis of PAP plasma concentration identified 2 groups with significant difference in survival rate in all patients, cases in advanced stages of disease and in those with small and non-small cell lung cancer. The results of the present study showed prognostic significance of the subclinical activation of the clotting system, particularly of the fibrinolytic pathway, in lung cancer. Newly developed markers of fibrinolysis might be potentially applicable for predicting outcome in malignancy.

Recently, an increased frequency of thromboembolic events has been reported after the administration of anticancer drugs. The precise mechanism by which these vascular phenomena occur is unknown. The current work aims at evaluating the alterations of the coagulation and the fibrinolysis systems during the administration of antineoplastic agents by means of newly developed markers of haemostasis. This investigation comprised 25 lung cancer patients treated with multidrug combination chemotherapy. D-dimer, plasmin-alpha 2-antiplasmin complex, fibrin degradation products, fibrinogen, antithrombin III, thrombin-antithrombin III complex, prothrombin time and activated partial thromboplastin time were measured from samples taken before and on days 2, 5, 7, 14 and 21 after the administration of antineoplastic drugs. A significant reduction in plasma concentration of fibrinolytic activity markers, DD and PAP, was observed on days 5 and 7, and on days 2, 5, 7 and 14, respectively, following the administration of chemotherapeutic drugs. Statistically significant shortening of PT and APTT on days 2, 5, 7 and 14, as well as significant elevation of the thrombin generation marker TAT were observed on days 5 and 7 after chemotherapy. These results show that relatively higher levels of coagulation activation and a lower fibrinolytic activity occur during cytotoxic drug therapy compared with basal values. Small variations of haemostatic values and a short follow-up period may explain why no thrombotic events were observed during this study. Although further studies must be done to clarify these findings, the results of this investigation suggest that an imbalance of the coagulation-fibrinolysis system might be a contributing factor in the pathogenesis of thrombotic complications during chemotherapy.

Clotting abnormalities are well-recognized complications that occur with high frequency in patients suffering from underlying malignant diseases. New and highly sensitive molecular markers of hemostasis, thrombin-antithrombin III complex (TAT III), D-dimer fragments (DD), and plasmin-alpha 2-antiplasmin complex (PIC) were measured in 58 consecutive lung cancer patients. Significant elevation in the blood concentrations of DD, PIC, and TAT was found in lung cancer patients, with either extensive or limited disease compared with values obtained in a healthy control group and in another group of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Patients with distant metastasis exhibited significantly higher levels of these parameters as compared to those without metastasis. These data indicated that there was a subclinical activation of blood coagulation and fibrinolysis in lung cancer from the early clinical stages of the disease. In addition, there appeared to be different levels of clotting activation according to histologic type of tumor and response to chemotherapy.

Background: Evidence suggests that the fibrinolysis system and peritumoral connective tissue play important roles in tumor spread., Methods: In this study, the authors evaluated the following parameters in 30 consecutive patients with lung cancer: thrombin-antithrombin complex (TAT), cross-linked fibrin split products D-dimer (DD), plasmin-alpha 2-antiplasmin inhibitor complex (PAP), and two antigens related to connective tissue, the aminoterminal propeptide of type III procollagen (PIIIP) and the 7S domain of type IV collagen (7S-collagen)., Results: Each parameter was increased significantly in the patients with cancer compared with the control subjects. Except for PIIIP, their concentration in blood was elevated to a significantly greater extent in the patients with distant metastases. The PAP concentration correlated well with the plasma concentration of TAT (r = 0.5; P < 0.01) and DD (r = 0.9; P < 0.0001). There was also a strong correlation between the serum concentrations of PIIIP and 7S-collagen (r = 0.7; P < 0.001). In patients with localized disease, DD levels were correlated significantly with those of PIIIP (Spearman rank-order correlation [rs] = 0.6; P < 0.025) and 7S-collagen (rs = 0.6; P < 0.01). In the group with disseminated metastases, there was a significant inverse relationship between serum PAP concentrations and serum concentrations of 7S-collagen (rs = -0.6; P < 0.025)., Conclusions: These results confirm the presence of a subclinical chronic activation of the parameters of intravascular clotting-fibrinolysis and alterations in the extracellular matrix of patients with lung cancer. These parameters may be useful as indicators of the clinical progression of malignant disease, particularly of lung cancer.

Eleven inoperable patients with non-small cell lung cancer were treated as a maintenance therapy with oral etoposide 25 mg daily. The toxicity appeared during the chemotherapy were assessed in all cases, but the blood concentration of the drug were measured in 5 cases on the first and the seventh day of treatment. While the peak plasma level (Cmax) was 0.92 +/- 0.43 microgram/ml on the first day and 1.02 +/- 0.30 micrograms/ml on the seventh day of chemotherapy, AUC was 12.3 +/- 5.41 micrograms.hr/ml and 11.9 +/- 4.52 micrograms.hr/ml on the first and the seventh day, respectively. Cumulative effect of the drug did not exist, since in any of these two measurements there was no significant statistical difference between values obtained on the first and on the seventh day. Regarding the toxicity of the drug, bone marrow suppression with abnormal reduction of peripheral white blood cells was observed. Though grade 2 adverse reaction was found in 6 cases, stopping drug administration for 2 weeks, enabled to re-administer the drug. Alopecia and liver or renal injury were not observed, and in spite of the presence of nausea and anorexia in one case, maintenance therapy could continue in all cases. Based on these results we concluded that etoposide can be safely administered as a maintenance therapy on out-patient basis.