Search

Elevated temperature was investigated to understand why there is a faster decline in Pratylenchus thornei population abundances in the topsoil than in deeper layers of vertisols after wheat matures in the subtropical grain region of eastern Australia. Soil containing a large population abundance of P. thornei (after wheat growth) was incubated in a replicated experiment for various periods up to 16 weeks at eight temperatures ranging from 10 to 45 °C in 5 °C intervals, with three moisture treatments, namely (a) field capacity maintained during incubation, (b) field capacity allowed to dry during incubation and (c) air-dried before incubation. After incubation, live nematodes were extracted from the soil samples by the Whitehead tray method for 2 and 7 days and P. thornei was counted in four life-stage categories. Temperatures ≥ 35 °C resulted in rapid death of P. thornei independent of any effects due to soil desiccation. At lower temperatures, survival over a 16-week period was better in soil maintained at field capacity than in soil allowed to dry. Death of P. thornei in soil that was air-dried before incubation was rapid during incubation at all temperatures tested. Elevated temperature of itself plus faster soil desiccation with increasing temperature are the likely causes of the faster decline in P. thornei population abundances in the topsoil than in the subsoil. These effects can contribute to soil profile distributions of P. thornei recorded in some fields in this subtropical grain region after clean fallow periods where greater population abundances of P. thornei occur in the subsoil layers than in the topsoil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The literature is inconclusive as to whether the percentage of the lepidic component of an invasive adenocarcinoma (AC) of the lung influences prognosis. We studied a population-based series of selected, resected invasive pulmonary ACs to determine if incremental increases in the lepidic component were an independent, prognostic variable., Methods: Patients undergoing resection for lung cancer reported to the Cancer Registry of Norway and diagnosed in the period 1993-2002 with a bronchioloalveolar carcinoma (BAC) (old terminology) (adenocarcinoma in situ, AIS in the new terminology) in the lung were selected. A pulmonary pathologist reviewed all sections and estimated the percentage of the lepidic component. Follow-up of survival was to the end of 2013., Results: One hundred thirty-one patients were identified, 102 had AC with lepidic growth. Of these, 44 had AC with a component of lepidic growth less than 50% and seven had AC with 95% lepidic component or more. One of the latter cases was considered to be AIS. In regression analyses, superior survival was associated with a greater lepidic component (p = 0.041). Mucinous tumors had a worse prognosis than non-mucinous (p = 0.012) in regression analyses, as did increasing age and stage. The five-year observed survival was 69.0% for non-mucinous cases and 66.7% for the group with a lepidic component of 80% or greater., Conclusion: The percentage of the lepidic component appears to be an independent, significant prognostic factor in a selection of pulmonary AC.

Objective: Few published reports have examined the incidence and outcomes for patients with carcinoid lung tumors. The aim of the current study was to explore incidence, type of surgical treatment given, and outcome for patients with typical (TC) and atypical (AC) lung carcinoids in a national cohort (Norway)., Methods: All lung-cancer patients diagnosed in the period 1993-2005 and who were reported to the Cancer Registry of Norway were identified. Biopsies or resection specimens were reviewed and reclassified according to the World Health Organization (WHO) 2004 classification. Surgically treated patients were staged according to the seventh edition of the pathological tumor-node-metastasis (pTNM) staging system., Results: Of 26665 lung cancers registered during the period, 265 (1%) had carcinoid tumors, of which 11 were diagnosed coincidentally at autopsy. In the remaining 254 patients, TCs were found in 188 cases, and ACs were found in 59 cases; seven cases had unclassifiable carcinoids. Of the 217 resected tumors, 173 (80%) were TCs. General surgeons performed 94 resections, including 11 of 17 pneumonectomies. All six bronchial resections were performed by thoracic surgeons. Of the 33 operated patients who died during follow-up, 18 had metastatic carcinoid tumors, of which 10 (56%) were ACs. In 37 non-resected patients (15 with AC and seven with unclassifiable histology), metastatic or locally advanced disease (N=21, 12 of which were ACs) was the main cause of inoperability and death. Five-year survival for all patients was 92% for TC and 66% for AC; for resected patients, the survival rates were 96% and 79%, respectively., Conclusions: Carcinoids are rare malignant tumors and are, in most cases, resectable; the TC subgroup had better prognosis than the AC in univariate analyses. The main cause of death was metastasis/locally advanced tumor at presentation or recurrent disease following resection; both situations were three times more common in patients with AC., (Copyright © 2010 European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: Only 17% of patients with lung cancer are surgically resected, and the resection rate has not improved despite more attention about the disease. All patients with resectable disease should be offered operation and we wanted to investigate whether this is the case., Material and Methods: We assessed patients that received the diagnosis localized lung cancer in the period 2003-2005 and were not resected according to the Cancer Registry of Norway (n = 322). After exclusion of 40 patients, 282 remained for evaluation., Results: The Cancer Registry of Norway had received clinical reports for 253 patients. Lung physicians had filled in less than half of these, and TNM was registered appropriately in 37% of all reports. Despite that all patients had been categorized in the Registry as having localized lung cancer, 55 patients had advanced disease. Poor lung function, high age and serious comorbidity were contraindications towards surgery for patients with localized disease. Of 282 patients, 258 were inoperable while nine had undergone resection. The remaining 15 cases were thus classified as being operable or possibly operable., Interpretation: The proportion of patients who had not undergone resection and were assessed as operable has decreased. Legally required reporting to the Cancer Registry is still insufficient. Introduction of a specific report form for these patients may facilitate treatment evaluation and thereby treatment and ensure that the decision to not operate is well documented.

Background: Synchronous lung tumors with a histology indicating primary lung carcinomas detected preoperatively or at surgery may represent intrapulmonary metastases from a primary tumor or two or more simultaneously occurring primary tumors. The situation is rare. This study was conducted to assess the characteristics and outcome for this patient group., Methods: All clinical and pathology departments in Norway submit standardized reports on cancer patients to the Cancer Registry of Norway. The registry also has a law-regulated authority to collect supplemental information on diagnosis, treatment, and outcome for all cancer patients from hospitals. During the period 1993 to 2000, lung cancer was diagnosed in 15,308 patients, of whom 2528 underwent resection in 24 hospitals. This investigation included all patients with histology demonstrating primary lung carcinoma in more than one tumor in the resected specimen., Results: Synchronous malignant tumors were found in 94 patients: 66 had two tumors and the remaining 28 had three or more. The tumors were of similar histology in 85 cases. The tumors were diagnosed preoperatively in 11 patients and peroperatively or in the resected specimen in the other 83. The 5-year relative survival rate was 31.4% for patients with squamous cell carcinomas, 23.2% for adenocarcinomas, and 42.7% for patients with tumors of other histology (two carcinoids)., Conclusions: Survival in patients with synchronous lung tumors is good compared with historical reports on patients with distant metastases or other variants of T4 tumors; thus, they should be considered for surgery.

Background: Surgical resection is the mainstay of curative treatment for lung cancer. It is important that the resection is done as soon as the disease is diagnosed. The waiting time in Norway can be longer than desirable., Material and Methods: Patients who underwent resection for primary lung cancer in the period 1998-2001 were identified in the Cancer Registry of Norway. When malignancy was confirmed preoperatively by histopathology or cytology, the time interval from diagnostic procedure to the pathologist's answer was calculated as response time and further the time from diagnosis to surgery was calculated as waiting time. Covariates important for waiting time were analysed by univariable and multivariable regression analyses., Results: Of the 1351 patients that were operated in the period, 924 had a positive cytological or histological preoperative diagnosis. Pathology response time was median 3 days and waiting time for surgery was median 26 days (range 0-406 days). Multivariable regression analysis demonstrated that disease stage, histology and patient referral between hospitals contributed to waiting time from diagnosis to operation. Patients undergoing investigation and surgery at the same hospital had a median 9 days shorter waiting time than those referred from other hospitals., Interpretation: Our investigation revealed a longer waiting time than desired. A high proportion of patients did not have a positive preoperative biopsy or cytology.

Objective: The postoperative mortality following lung cancer surgery is relatively high. The purpose of the present study was to identify preoperative risk factors as well as fatal complications in 27 Norwegian hospitals., Methods: In Norway, all clinical and pathologic departments submit reports on cancer patients to the Cancer Registry of Norway. The Registry also has a law-regulated authority to collect supplemental information regarding diagnosis, treatment, and outcome for all cancer patients from the hospitals in charge. This investigation included all patients who died within 30 and 60 days after resection of lung cancer in the period 1993-2002., Results: During the investigation lung cancer was diagnosed in 19,582 patients, 3224 (16.5%) were treated by surgery. The resection rate was almost similar in the two sexes, but postoperative mortality in women was less than half compared to men. Total mortality was 5% and 8% after 30 and 60 days, respectively. Bilobectomy and pneumonectomy were most risky with a mortality rate of about 10% within 60 days. In patients more than 70 years of age, there was a considerably higher frequency of pneumonectomy in men compared to women. Dominating causes of death were pneumonia with respiratory failure and cardiac events. Other identifiable causes were surgical hemorrhage and bronchopleural fistula., Conclusions: In this population-based, unselected series, the postoperative mortality was relatively high, and increased markedly in patients older than 70 years. Pneumonectomy in patients older than 70 years should only be performed when heart-lung function is found to be acceptable following full pulmonary function testing and thorough preoperative assessment of cardiovascular risk factors.

Objective: Surgical resection for lung cancer is the mainstay of curative treatment, but studies regarding postoperative results and long term outcome in the elderly have differed. The purpose of the present study was to assess the early and long-term results of surgical resection in patients more than 70 years of age., Methods: In Norway all clinical and pathologic departments submit reports on cancer patients to the Cancer Registry of Norway. This investigation included all patients more than 70 years of age resected for lung cancer in the time period 1993-2000. For results of long-time follow-up only patients operated on between 1993 and 1998 were included., Results: A total of 763 patients (541 men) were identified aged 71-87 years. Postoperative mortality rate was 9%, highest after bilobectomy and pneumonectomy. The most commonly reported causes of postoperative death were pneumonia and cardiac complications. The majority of patients had tumor categorized as clinical stage (cStage) Ia and Ib. More than 100 in each of these groups proved to have more advanced disease postoperatively (pStage). The 5-year relative survival rate was significantly better in patients with disease in pStage I compared to higher stages. Women had a significantly better 5-year survival rate compared to men, 62.8 and 35.7%, respectively., Conclusions: Lung cancer surgery appears to be a relatively safe procedure even in the elderly. There is a high postoperative mortality after bilobectomy and pneumonectomy. However, when old people survive the postoperative period the long term prognosis seems favorable.