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A 58-year-old man was diagnosed with lung adenocarcinoma with a tumor proportion score of 10%. After six cycles of second-line chemotherapy with nivolumab, he achieved a complete response (CR) but developed uveitis and sensorineural hearing disorder, which were consistent with Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada (VKH)-like syndrome. Simultaneously, pituitary adrenocortical insufficiency was identified. Nivolumab discontinuation and systemic corticosteroid administration resolved these immune-related adverse events (irAEs). The patient has maintained a CR without any chemotherapy for approximately two years. We herein report a patient with a long-term progression-free survival despite chemotherapy discontinuation due to irAEs, including VKH-like syndrome, which were appropriately managed.

Introduction As most patients with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-mutant non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) develop progressive disease after treatment with osimertinib, it is important to develop more effective treatment options. Afatinib has been shown to be more effective in in vitro studies than osimertinib when used in cancer cell lines containing some specific EGFR mutations. Therefore, afatinib may be an effective solution, especially when used in combination with an anti-VEGF agent such as bevacizumab. Methods A phase II multicenter, open-label, single-arm trial has been initiated to evaluate the efficacy and safety of afatinib and bevacizumab combination as salvage therapy for EGFR-mutated lung cancer in patients previously treated with osimertinib. The primary endpoint will be the objective response rate (ORR) and secondary endpoints are progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), disease control rate (DCR), and adverse events (AEs). Discussion A previous study indicated that afatinib inhibits lung cancer cells with specific EGFR mutations more effectively than other EGFR-TKIs such as osimertinib. Therefore, we expect that combination therapy using afatinib and bevacizumab will be effective in patients previously treated with osimertinib (registration no. jRCTs031190077).

Objectives: A major regulatory peptide in iron metabolism, hepcidin, has been shown to predict mortality in HIV-infected tuberculosis patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether plasma hepcidin levels on admission can be used to predict the treatment outcome of patients with smear-positive pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) without HIV co-infection. Methods: In this prospective observational study, a total of 35 PTB patients with Mycobacterium tuberculosis-positive sputum smears were enrolled. The relationship between plasma hepcidin levels on admission and the time period to sputum culture-negative was explored. Results: Plasma hepcidin levels of PTB patients were significantly higher than those of healthy subjects (p

Background Atezolizumab is a programmed death‐ligand 1 (PD‐L1) targeted monoclonal antibody that inhibits PD‐L1 interacting with its receptors PD‐1 and B7‐1, thereby enhancing anticancer immunity. Some real‐world efficacy and safety studies of anti‐PD‐1 antibody have been previously reported. However, there have been no reports investigating the efficacy of atezolizumab monotherapy in clinical practice which have focused on performance status and previous anti‐PD‐1 antibody treatment. Methods We retrospectively reviewed consecutive advanced NSCLC patients who received atezolizumab monotherapy between April 2018 and February 2019 at eight institutions. A total of 152 patients with NSCLC were enrolled in this study. Results A total of 38 patients (25%) had already been treated with anti‐PD‐1 treatment (nivolumab or pembrolizumab) before atezolizumab. The median OS and TTF was 384 days (12.8 months) (95% confidence interval [CI]: 206–424), and 42 days (1.4 months) (95% CI: 27–56) in all patients, respectively. ECOG PS 0 had significantly longer OS (median OS; not reached, p, Swimmers plot of atezolizumab according to the efficacy of prior anti‐PD‐1 treatment. Seven patients (18.4%, 7/38) continued atezolizumab over four months as an ICI retreatment.

Objective This retrospective cohort study investigated whether the three components of the blood cell count have prognostic implications in HIV-negative Japanese adult inpatients with smear-positive pulmonary tuberculosis. Methods We reviewed patients who were treated by the isoniazid, rifampicin, pyrazinamide, and ethambutol regimen or by the isoniazid, rifampicin, and ethambutol regimen. The association between the patient data on admission and the survival outcome was evaluated. Results We reviewed 367 consecutive patients (male, 60.5%) with a median age of 72 [interquartile range (IQR), 54-82] years. While the white blood cell count did not differ between the two groups, (discharged alive: 7,000/μL; IQR, 5,500-9,300; died in hospital: 7,200/μL; IQR, 5,600-9,400; p=0.797), hemoglobin level (discharged alive: 11.5 g/dL; IQR, 10.0-13.1; died in hospital: 9.9 g/dL; IQR, 8.6-11.3; p

Objectives We aimed to assess diagnostic test accuracy of antigenaemia assay for PCR-proven cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection. Methods We systematically searched studies that provide data both on sensitivity and specificity of the CMV antigenaemia assay using the PCR as the reference standard. Adults, children, infants, individuals who were immunocompromised for any reason, symptomatic patients and asymptomatic individuals were all included. A hierarchical summary receiver operating characteristics model was used for diagnostic meta-analysis. Study quality was assessed by Revised Tool for the Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies. Protocol registration identification is CRD42016035892. Results We identified 75 eligible articles including 9058 CMV PCR-positive individuals and 22 232 PCR-negative individuals. The diagnostic odds ratio for positive antigenaemia was 30 (95% CI 24–38, I2 = 28%) and the area under the hierarchical summary receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.86 (95% CI 0.83–0.88). The summary estimates of sensitivity and specificity were 0.65 (95% CI 0.59–0.70) and 0.94 (95% CI 0.93–0.95), respectively. The positive likelihood ratio of 10.9 (95% CI 8.5–14.0) suggested that a positive result from the antigenaemia assay greatly increased the probability of PCR-proven CMV infection, but a negative likelihood ratio of 0.38 (95% CI 0.32–0.44) indicated that a negative result led to a small decrease in the probability of PCR-proven CMV infection. Sensitivity and subgroup analyses replicated these results. Conclusions The antigenaemia assay overlooked 35% of PCR-proven CMV infections; hence, a negative result of an antigenaemia assay could not rule out a CMV infection.

Objective Onodera's Prognostic Nutritional Index (PNI), determined as "10× albumin (g/dL) + 0.005× lymphocyte count (/μL)," was originally designed to determine the risk of complications following gastrointestinal surgery. This single-center, retrospective observational study was designed to investigate whether or not the PNI can predict the treatment outcome. Methods We consecutively reviewed HIV-negative pulmonary tuberculosis adults in an isolation ward. Most patients were being treated with standard three- or four-drug regimens. Patients were discharged after consecutive negative smears/cultures were confirmed. The risk of all-cause death was assessed using a multivariable Cox proportional hazard model and a log-rank trend test. Results During the observation period, we observed 371 consecutive patients with a median age of 72 (interquartile range [IQR]: 54-82) years. In our cohort, 295 (79.5%) patients were discharged alive, and 76 (20.5%) died in-hospital. Patients who died in-hospital had a lower PNI [median 21.2 (IQR: 18.5-25.9)] than those who were discharged alive [median 35.1 (IQR: 28.0-43.3); p

9038 Background: The clinical significance of genetic alterations in stage II/III non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients has not yet been clarified. We have prospectively analyzed NSCLC patients for cancer-related gene alterations and have followed up clinical course of the patients, establishing a large-scale clinico-genomic database in our nationwide genome screening project (LC-SCRUM-Japan). Methods: Submitted tumor samples were subjected to a targeted next-generation sequencing (NGS) system, Oncomine™ Comprehensive Assay. Therapeutic and prognostic data were collected and updated every year. Results: Since March 2015 to May 2019, 5166 non-squamous NSCLC patients from 263 institutions had been enrolled in the LC-SCRUM-Japan, and 754 of them were diagnosed as stage II/III. The median age of the 754 patients was 67 years (range, 21-92), and 503 (67%) were male, 595 (79%) smokers and 631 (84%) stage III. Of 640 available samples, 258 (40%) had targetable gene alterations, comprising 106 KRAS mut, 42 EGFR mut, 29 BRAF mut, 20 MET ex14skip/amp, 16 ALK fus, 12 ROS1 fus, 11 ERBB2 ex20ins, 8 RET fus, 7 EGFR ex20ins, 5 AKT1 mut, 1 NRG1 fus, 1 FGFR2/3 fus. In patients who received surgery (n = 159), 3-year disease-free survival rate was worse in patients with targetable gene alterations than in those without (40% vs 58% months; p = 0.03). In patients who received cytotoxic chemo-radiotherapy (n = 148), the response rate was similar in patients with targetable gene alterations and those without (70% vs. 77%); however, 3-year progression-free survival rate tended to be shorter in patients with targetable gene alterations than in those without (19% vs 35%; p = 0.08). Conclusions: In stage II/III NSCLC, the total frequency of targetable gene alterations was similar to that previously evaluated in our stage IV cohort (45%), and the current standard therapies showed early progression in the targetable gene-altered patients. A novel effective multimodality treatment in combination with targeted therapies is needed for this population.

9064 Background: Development of targeted therapy for SCLC based on a large-scale genomic screening is an innovative challenge. Gedatolisib is a highly potent dual inhibitor of PI3K/mTOR and is expected to have an effect for tumors with PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway alterations. SCLC harboring this pathway alterations is rare. Thus, we conducted a phase II study based on a nationwide genomic screening network in Japan (LC-SCRUM-Japan) to develop novel targeted therapies. Methods: SCLC pts with targetable genetic alterations were screened at 154 institutions in Japan. A multicenter, single-arm phase II study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy and safety of gedatolisib in advanced SCLC pts with genetic alterations in the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway. The primary endpoint was objective response rate (ORR). The planned sample size was 19 (threshold and expected ORR of 20% and 50%, one-sided alpha of 5%, and power of 80%). Results: 930 SCLC pts were screened from July 2015 to January 2020. Targetable genetic alterations were identified in 148 pts (16%), including 53 PI3K/AKT/mTOR (6%), 81 MYC family (9%), 10 EGFR (1%) and 15 KRAS (2%). A total of 12 pts with genetic alterations in the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway (5 PIK3CA, 6 PTEN, and 1 AKT1 mutation) were enrolled in the phase II study. The median age was 67 years (range 58-79), 7 pts were male and 5 pts received 2 or more prior chemotherapy (range 1-4). The ORR was 0% and disease control rate was 25%. The median progression-free survival (PFS) was 0.9 months (95% CI, 0.4 to 3.0). The median overall survival was 5.8 months (95% CI, 1.1 to NR). Treatment-related G3 adverse events (hypertension, hypoalbuminemia, oral mucositis, ALT increased and creatinine increased) were observed in 4 pts. One patient with PTEN I8fs mutation had a long duration of stable disease (PFS; 6.7 months). Conclusions: This Large-scale nationwide genomic screening network was effective to identify rare targetable genetic alterations and had a potential role to develop targeted therapies in SCLC. This phase II study didn’t show promising clinical benefit of gedatolisib for advanced SCLC pts with genetic alterations in the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway. The safety profile of gedatolisib was similar to that reported previously. Clinical trial information: UMIN000020585.

We conducted a single-center retrospective cohort study to evaluate whether the HbA1c level on admission could predict the in-hospital treatment outcome of smear-positive non-multi-drug-resistant HIV-negative culture-proven pulmonary tuberculosis inpatients. Our standard regimens under the direct observation were HRZE or HRE for the first two months followed by combination therapy with isoniazid and rifampicin. Our cohort consisted of consecutive 239 patients consisted of 147 men and 92 women with a median age of 73 years. The HbA1c level of patients whose HbA1c was above 7.0% on admission showed clear declining trends after admission. HbA1c on admission had no Spearman’s rank correlation with time to discharge alive (r = 0.17) and time to becoming non-infective (r = 0.17). By Kaplan-Meier curves and a log-rank trend test, HbA1c quartile subgroups showed no association with times to discharge alive (p = 0.431), becoming non-infective (p = 0.113), and in-hospital death (p = 0.427). Based on multi-variate Cox analysis, HbA1c on admission had no significant impact on time to discharge alive (hazard ratio = 1.03, 95% CI 0.89–1.20, p = 0.659), becoming non-infective (hazard ratio = 0.93, 95% CI 0.80–1.06, p = 0.277), and in-hospital death (hazard ratio = 0.68, 0.43–1.07, p = 0.097). In conclusion, the HbA1c level on admission did not seem to affect in-hospital tuberculosis treatment outcomes in Japanese cohort.

Currently, an anti-glycopeptidolipid (GPL)-core IgA antibody assay kit for diagnosing Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) is commercially available. We conducted this systematic review and meta-analysis to reveal the precise diagnostic accuracy of anti-GPL-core IgA antibodies for MAC pulmonary disease (MAC-PD). We systematically searched reports that could provide data for both sensitivity and specificity by anti-GPL-core IgA antibody for clinically diagnosed MAC-PD. Diagnostic test accuracy was estimated using the bivariate model. Of the 257 articles that we had found through primary search, we finally included 16 reports consisted of 1098 reference positive subjects and 2270 reference negative subjects. The diagnostic odds ratio was 24.8 (95% CI 11.6–52.8, I2 = 5.5%) and the area under the hierarchical summary receiver operating characteristic curves was 0.873 (95% CI 0.837–0.913). With a cutoff value of 0.7 U/mL, the summary estimates of sensitivity and specificity were 0.696 (95% CI 0.621–0.761) and 0.906 (95% CI 0.836–0.951), respectively. The positive and negative likelihood ratios were 7.4 (95% CI 4.1–13.8) and 0.34 (95% CI 0.26–0.43), respectively. The demanding clinical diagnostic criteria may be a cause of false positive of the index test. The index test had good overall diagnostic accuracy and was useful to ruling in MAC-PD with the cutoff value.

Diagnostic test accuracy of the loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay for culture proven tuberculosis is unclear. We searched electronic databases for both cohort and case-control studies that provided data to calculate sensitivity and specificity. The index test was any LAMP assay including both commercialized kits and in-house assays. Culture-proven M. tuberculosis was considered a positive reference test. We included 26 studies on 9330 sputum samples and one study on 315 extra-pulmonary specimens. For sputum samples, 26 studies yielded the summary estimates of sensitivity of 89.6% (95% CI 85.6–92.6%), specificity of 94.0% (95% CI 91.0–96.1%), and a diagnostic odds ratio of 145 (95% CI 93–226). Nine studies focusing on Loopamp MTBC yielded the summary estimates of sensitivity of 80.9% (95% CI 76.0–85.1%) and specificity of 96.5% (95% CI 94.7–97.7%). Loopamp MTBC had higher sensitivity and lower specificity for smear-positive sputa compared to smear-negative sputa. In-house assays showed higher sensitivity and lower specificity compared to Loopamp MTBC. LAMP promises to be a useful test for the diagnosis of TB, however there is still need to improve the assay to make it simpler, cheaper and more efficient to make it competitive against other PCR methods already available.

Summary Nucleic acid amplification tests are a major diagnostic tool for pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB). Recently, digital PCR (dPCR) assay has improved sensitivity for the detection of small copy numbers of target molecules. The aim of this study is to explore the utility of dPCR for detecting Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) DNA in PTB patient plasma. Total DNA was purified from plasma samples of newly diagnosed sputum smear-positive PTB patients. Copy numbers of MTB-specific genes in the samples were quantified with dPCR assays targeted for IS6110 or gyrB . A total of 33 PTB patients were enrolled. Significant differences between PTB patients and controls were observed in copy numbers of both targets: IS6110 mean ± SD, 144.8 ± 538.3 vs 0.44 ± 0.49 (copies/20 μL, p = 0.004; Mann–Whitney U test) and gyrB mean ± SD, 359.0 ± 2116 vs 0.07 ± 0.28 (copies/20 μL, p = 0.011; Mann–Whitney U test), respectively. This test had sensitivities of 65% or 29% and a specificity of 93% or 100% with the IS6110 -targeted or gyrB -targeted assays, respectively. A dPCR assay successfully detected MTB DNA in PTB patient plasma. This minimally invasive and accurate method has potential to become an alternative diagnostic option.

Currently, amrubicin is permitted for relapsed small-cell lung carcinoma (SCLC) only in Japan. The efficacy and adverse effects of amrubicin as reported by previous studies varied greatly. The inclusion criterion was a prospective study that was able to provide data for efficacy and safety by the AMR single agent regimen as second-line chemotherapy for a patient with SCLC. Binary data were meta-analyzed with the random-model generic inverse variance method. We included nine articles consisted of 803 patients. The pooled three-, six- and nine-month progression-free survival were 63% (95% CI 57–69%, I2 = 53%), 28% (95% CI 21–35%, I2 = 71%) and 10% (95% CI 6–14%, I2 = 41%), respectively. The pooled six-, 12- and 18-month overall survival were 69% (95% CI 61–78%, I2 = 83%), 36% (95% CI 28–44%, I2 = 80%) and 15% (95% CI 8–21%, I2 = 81%), respectively. Amrubicin seemed much more beneficial for Japanese patients. However, compared to the efficacy of topotecan presented in a previous meta-analysis, amrubicin may be a better treatment option than topotecan for both Japanese and Euro-American. Adverse effects by amrubicin were almost exclusively observed to be hematological. Notably, grade III/IV neutropenia incidence was 70% and febrile neutropenia incidence was 12%.

Since 2010, studies on the diagnostic accuracy of COBAS TaqMan MTB (CTM) have been frequently reported with an unignorable discrepancy. The key inclusion criterion for this systematic review was original studies that could provide sufficient data for calculating the sensitivity and the specificity of CTM for M tuberculosis (TB) or M tuberculosis complex. The reference test was Mycobacterium culture. We used bivariate model for meta-analyses. Of the 201 candidate articles, we finally identified 17 eligible articles.Concerning the respiratory specimens, 1900 culture positive specimens and 20983 culture negative specimens from 15 studies were assessed. This provided the summary estimate sensitivity of 0.808 (95% CI 0.758–0.850) and the summary estimate specificity of 0.990 (95% CI 0.981–0.994). The area under curve was 0.956. The diagnostic odds ratio was 459 (95% CI 261–805, I2 26%). For the smear positive respiratory specimens, the sensitivity was 0.952 (95% CI 0.926–0.969) and the specificity was 0.916 (95% CI 0.797–0.968). For the smear negative respiratory specimens, the sensitivity and the specificity were 0.600 (95% CI 0.459–0.726) and 0.989 (95% CI 0.981–0.993), respectively. The diagnostic accuracy was poorer for the non-respiratory specimens, than for the respiratory specimens, but was acceptable. We believe that the information obtained from this study will aid physicians’ decision making.

Topotecan is the most reliable chemotherapy regimen for relapsed small-cell lung carcinoma (SCLC). The efficacy and adverse effects of topotecan as reported by previous studies varied greatly. The inclusion criterion was a prospective study that was able to provide data for 6-month over-all survival (OS) rate, 1-year OS rate, objective responses, and/or adverse effects of single agent topotecan as a second line chemotherapy for SCLC, written in English language as a full article. Any topotecan regimen were allowed. Binary data were meta-analyzed with the random-model generic inverse variance method. We included 14 articles consisted of 1347 patients. Pooled values were estimated as follows. Six-month OS rate: 37% (95% CI: 28–46%). One-year OS rate: 9% (95% CI: 5–13%). Response rate: 5% (95% CI: 1–8%). Six-month OS rate: 57% (95% CI: 50–64%). One-year OS rate: 27% (95% CI: 22–32%). Response rate: 17% (95% CI: 11–23%). Grade III/IV neutropenia 69% (95% CI: 58–80%). Grade III/IV thrombopenia 41% (95% CI: 34–48%). Grade III/IV anemia 24% (95% CI: 17–30%). Non-hematorogical events were rare. Chemotherapy-related death 2% (95% CI: 1–3%). In conclusion, Topotecan provided a possibly promising outcome for sensitive-relapse SCLC and poor outcome for refractory relapse SCLC. Adverse events were mainly hematological.