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Introduction: Although programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) inhibitor plus chemotherapy regimen is a promising strategy for malignant tumors, it can induce significant immune-related adverse events, such as immune-related pneumonitis. Here, we report the first case of lethal immune-related pneumonitis in an Asian patient receiving anti-PD-L1 treatment. Case Presentation: A 68-year-old man was diagnosed with small cell lung cancer and interstitial pneumonia. After his pulmonary infection was relieved by comprehensive treatment, the patient received first-line treatment with durvalumab plus etoposide and carboplatin. Two weeks after starting durvalumab treatment, the patient had chest pain and shortness of breath. He was diagnosed with immune-induced pneumonia and treated with methylprednisolone, cefoperazone, and sulbactam, followed by oxygen and pirfenidone. Oxygen partial pressure decreased to 58 mm Hg within next the 4 days and laboratory assessment suggested cytokine storm. The patient underwent 2 plasma exchanges, one double filtration plasmapheresis and oxygen saturation decreased continuously. The patient died 1 month after durvalumab treatment. Conclusion: Immune-related pneumonitis induced by PD-L1 inhibitors is rare but life-threatening. Infection should be ruled out before starting immunotherapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The incidence and mortality of lung cancer in China are the highest of all malignant tumors, seriously endangering people's lives and health. Refractory lung cancer is lung cancer that is unresponsive to standard treatment and is difficult to treat, or lung cancer for which a standard treatment has not yet been defined. However, there is still a lack of clear definition and consensus on the treatment of refractory lung cancer. In order to provide guidance for the clinically effective and safe treatment of refractory lung cancer, experts from Chinese Thoracic Society Lung Cancer Study Group have formulated this consensus, on the basis of the actual situation in the field of diagnosis and treatment in our country, with reference to the latest research data, relevant guidelines at home and abroad and experts' clinical practice experience. The consensus makes recommendations on the application of four aspects: refractory small cell lung cancer (SCLC), refractory driver gene-positive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), refractory driver gene-negative NSCLC, and new technological solutions for precision diagnosis and treatment. It also provides references for Chinese clinicians on the use of drugs for refractory lung cancer.

Objectives: Stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) is a treatment option for patients with early-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who are unfit for surgery. Some patients may experience distant metastasis. This study aimed to develop and validate a radiomics model for predicting distant metastasis in patients with early-stage NSCLC treated with SBRT., Methods: Patients at five institutions were enrolled in this study. Radiomics features were extracted based on the PET/CT images. After feature selection in the training set (from Tianjin), CT-based and PET-based radiomics signatures were built. Models based on CT and PET signatures were built and validated using external datasets (from Zhejiang, Zhengzhou, Shandong, and Shanghai). An integrated model that included CT and PET radiomic signatures was developed. The performance of the proposed model was evaluated in terms of its discrimination, calibration, and clinical utility. Multivariate logistic regression was used to calculate the probability of distant metastases. The cutoff value was obtained using the receiver operator characteristic curve (ROC), and the patients were divided into high- and low-risk groups. Kaplan-Meier analysis was used to evaluate the distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS) of different risk groups., Results: In total, 228 patients were enrolled. The median follow-up time was 31.4 (2.0-111.4) months. The model based on CT radiomics signatures had an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.819 in the training set (n = 139) and 0.786 in the external dataset (n = 89). The PET radiomics model had an AUC of 0.763 for the training set and 0.804 for the external dataset. The model combining CT and PET radiomics had an AUC of 0.835 for the training set and 0.819 for the external dataset. The combined model showed a moderate calibration and a positive net benefit. When the probability of distant metastasis was greater than 0.19, the patient was considered to be at high risk. The DMFS of patients with high- and low-risk was significantly stratified (P < 0.001)., Conclusions: The proposed PET/CT radiomics model can be used to predict distant metastasis in patients with early-stage NSCLC treated with SBRT and provide a reference for clinical decision-making. In this study, the model was established by combining CT and PET radiomics signatures in a moderate-quantity training cohort of early-stage NSCLC patients treated with SBRT and was successfully validated in independent cohorts. Physicians could use this easy-to-use model to assess the risk of distant metastasis after SBRT. Identifying subgroups of patients with different risk factors for distant metastasis is useful for guiding personalized treatment approaches., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

We report a rare case of small-cell lung carcinoma with long-term survival treated in the Department of Oncology, Renji Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine. The pathological-clinical features and diagnosis-treatment progress were analyzed, and the comprehensive treatment strategies, tumor heterogeneity and prognosis of this tumor type were discussed by comparing with other previous studies. The 62-year-old patient was diagnosed with small-cell lung carcinoma and received surgery, radiotherapy and multi-line treatment, and had survived for 13 years after the surgery. The heterogeneity of small cell lung carcinoma should be carefully evaluated to improve the prognosis of the patients.

Background To investigate whether the response to induction chemotherapy ( IC) would impact the timing of thoracic radiotherapy ( TRT) in limited-stage small-cell lung cancer ( LS-SCLC). Methods A total of 146 patients with LS-SCLC who had received two to six cycles of IC followed by TRT from January 2009 to December 2011 at our hospital were included in this study. Patients were divided into two groups based on the time TRT was administered: early TRT (administered after 2-3 cycles of chemotherapy) or late TRT (administered after 4-6 cycles). Overall survival ( OS) and progression-free survival ( PFS) were analyzed using the Kaplan- Meier method. Multivariate Cox regression analysis was performed to evaluate the independent factors affecting survival. Results The median OS for patients who received early TRT and late TRT was 29.0 and 19.9 months, respectively, ( P = 0.018) and the median PFS was 18.5 and 13.8 months, respectively ( P = 0.049). In patients who achieved complete remission ( CR) or partial remission ( PR) after two to three cycles of IC, the median OS was 36.1 and 22.5 months in the early and late TRT subgroups, respectively ( P = 0.009); the corresponding median PFS was 20.2 and 13.8 months, respectively ( P = 0.038). In the patients who did not achieve CR or PR, no statistic difference was found in OS or PFS between the two subgroups. Conclusion Patients who received early TRT had more favorable outcomes than those who received late TRT. Patients who achieved CR or PR after two to three cycles of IC obtained more benefit from early TRT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is the most malignant and common form of neuroendocrine lung cancer with pure (P-SCLC) and combined subtypes (C-SCLC). However, little is known about the differences between these two groups and in this study we aimed to provide a more comprehensive insight into SCLC., Methods: Data from 580 postoperative patients with pathologically confirmed SCLC in Shanghai Chest Hospital from January 2010 to December 2020 were collected retrospectively. The clinical characteristics and prognosis were analyzed., Results: A total of 357 P-SCLC patients and 223 C-SCLC patients were included. The results indicated that P-SCLC appeared to have a higher proportion of being located in the middle lobe than C-SCLC. The incidences of P-SCLC in patients with visceral pleural invasion (VPI) and in stage II were higher than C-SCLC, while C-SCLC was more likely to be accompanied by higher incidences of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation, anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) rearrangement, and higher levels of CEA, SCCA and CYFRA21-1 than P-SCLC. The most common were SCLC combined with large cell neuroendocrine components among 223 C-SCLCs. Survival analysis confirmed a more favorable disease-free survival (DFS) (p = 0.016) and overall survival (OS) (p = 0.024) in patients with P-SCLCs compared with C-SCLCs. Histological type, tumor location, pN stage, adjuvant chemotherapy, serum NSE and CA125 levels were independent risk factors for survival rate in SCLC. In addition, adjuvant chemotherapy was beneficial in improving stage I P-SCLC and C-SCLC DFS and OS rates, and similar results were not seen in adjuvant radiation therapy., Conclusions: Patients with C-SCLC have a poorer prognosis than P-SCLC patients. We determined that large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma was the most common additional component of C-SCLC, and patients with this component appeared to have a longer DFS and OS than other combined components., (© 2022 The Authors. Thoracic Cancer published by China Lung Oncology Group and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.)

Background: The aim of this prospective, pilot, single-arm phase II trial was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of anlotinib combined with etoposide and platinum-based regimens in the first-line treatment of extensive-stage small cell lung cancer (ES-SCLC)., Methods: This phase II study was conducted at Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center between December 2018 and December 2020. All patients received standard chemotherapy (etoposide plus cisplatin/carboplatin) consisting of four courses and anlotinib at 12 mg once per day for 2 weeks followed by a one-week rest. Anlotinib administration was continued until disease progression, intolerable adverse events (AEs) or patient withdrawal from the study. The primary outcome measure was progression-free survival (PFS). The secondary outcome measures were overall survival (OS), objective control rate (ORR), disease control rate (DCR) and AEs., Results: Thirty-seven patients were included in this study, and 30 patients were eligible for efficacy analysis. ORR and DCR were 90.0% and 96.7%, respectively. The estimated PFS and OS were 6.0 months (95% CI: 1.1-11.9 months) and 14.0 months (95% CI: 8.6-19.4 months), respectively. No unexpected adverse effects were reported. Hypertension (20/37, 54.1%), anemia (16/37, 43.2%), alopecia (15/37, 40.5%), elevated transaminases (9/37, 24.3%) and alkaline phosphatase (9/37, 24.3%) were the most commonly reported AEs. Thirteen patients (35.1%) reported grade 3-5 AEs. No treatment-related deaths occurred during this study., Conclusion: The addition of anlotinib to standard etoposide/platinum chemotherapy achieved encouraging PFS and OS in previously untreated ES-SCLC patients, with an acceptable tolerability profile and no new safety signals observed., (© 2022 The Authors. Thoracic Cancer published by China Lung Oncology Group and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.)

Objectives: To investigate the phenomenon of pseudo-small cell transformation (SCT) by reviewing SCT cases from the past 2 years., Materials & Methods: A total of 11 cases with reported SCT cases from 7282 lung cancer cases treated in West China Hospital of Sichuan University were identified between January 2017 and March 2018. All initial lung adenocarcinoma pathological slides of SCT patients were reviewed carefully by independent, blinded pathologists. Immunohistochemistry was used to identify the expression of EGFR L858R , RB1 and TP53., Results: Surprisingly, 8 of 11 previously SCT samples actually contained variable, but discernible amounts of SCLC components, varying from less than 1%-5%. Dubious small-cell components were found in two other patients. Only one patient's sample had no SCLC component on previous adenocarcinoma sections and was therefore defined as a real SCT case. In the current study, we found that at least 72.7 % (8/11) of SCT cases were actually pseudo-SCT. The immunohistochemistry results showed that the EGFR L858R protein was only expressed in the adenocarcinoma component, but not in the SCLC component, indicating that they may not originate from identical cell clones. RB1 deletion and mutated TP53 overexpression were observed in either pseudo-SCT or real SCT., Conclusions: Our findings indicated that most SCT may be pseudo-SCT in real world. Pseudo-SCT may lead to bias conclusion from previous researches about SCT. The real mechanism of SCT deserves further investigation., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)