The Association between Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma and Thoracic Radiation Therapy for Hodgkin's Lymphoma: The First Case Report in Japan.

Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is mostly observed in patients with a history of asbestos exposure. Although other causes are rare, there are several reports of MPM induced by therapeutic radiation, mainly in Europe and North America. However, no such case has been reported in Japan. We herein report a 50-year-old Japanese woman who developed MPM 25 years after thoracic radiation therapy for Hodgkin's lymphoma. The patient had no history of exposure to asbestos; therefore, her history of radiation therapy was considered to be the cause of MPM. Clinicians should consider secondary MPM in patients with a history of thoracic radiation therapy.

Utility of Endoscopic Ultrasound with Bronchoscope-guided Fine-needle Aspiration for Detecting Driver Oncogenes in Non-small-cell Lung Cancer during Emergency Situations: Case Series.

Since it is difficult to obtain tumor tissue via airway observation for lung cancer patients with a poor respiratory condition, endoscopic ultrasound with bronchoscope-guided fine-needle-aspiration (EUS-B-FNA), a transesophageal procedure, is effective for such patients. We herein report three patients with driver oncogenes taken to the emergency department because of lung cancer-related symptoms. EUS-B-FNA was performed because of the patients' poor respiratory conditions to detect driver oncogenes. The general conditions improved, and the patients achieved a long-term survival with tyrosine kinase inhibitors. Our findings suggest that EUS-B-FNA should be considered to detect driver oncogenes in lung cancer patients despite poor respiratory conditions in emergency departments.

Infliximab Was Found to Be Effective for Treating Immunosuppressive Drug-resistant Hepatitis due to Durvalumab.

A 69-year-old man with stage III lung squamous cell carcinoma developed immune-related hepatitis following treatment with durvalumab, and was given high-dose corticosteroids and immunosuppressive drugs (mycophenolate mofetil, azathioprine, tacrolimus) but without demonstrating any improvement. Two cycles of infliximab (5 mg/kg) were then administered and thereafter the hepatitis improved. At the time of writing (9 months after the initiation of first course of durvalumab), the patient is alive without either any hepatitis symptoms nor any lung cancer progression. Infliximab may be effective for treating non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients who develop immunosuppressive drug-resistant immune-related hepatitis caused by durvalumab.

Whole-brain Radiation and Pembrolizumab Treatment for a Non-small-cell Lung Cancer Patient with Meningeal Carcinomatosis Lacking Driver Oncogenes Led to a Long-term Survival.

We herein report a 66-year-old woman with advanced lung adenocarcinoma [programmed cell death and its ligand 1 (PD-L1) tumor proportion score 60%] lacking driver oncogenes in whom meningeal carcinomatosis, along with sudden onset dizziness, deafness, and consciousness disturbance, appeared after second-line chemotherapy. Whole-brain radiation therapy (WBRT) and Pembrolizumab were subsequently administered, and third-line chemotherapy with Pembrolizumab is now ongoing. At the time of writing, the patient has achieved a 23-month survival without disease progression. Our findings suggest that the combination of WBRT and an immune checkpoint inhibitor is effective for non-small-cell lung cancer patients lacking driver oncogenes who develop meningeal carcinomatosis.