Postoperative recurrence of primary lung cancer: anatomo-clinical and therapeutic study.

BACKGROUND: Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer mortality worldwide. Even after radical resection, the rate of recurrence of non-small cell lung cancer remains high. AIM: To identify the profile of patients operated for lung cancer and to study the prognostic factors of tumor recurrence. METHODS: We performed a retrospective study including 67 cases of lung cancer with curative surgery, hospitalized between 2010 and 2016. RESULTS: The mean age was 61 years. The sex ratio was 21. The average time to diagnosis was 22 days. The average time to start treatment was 10 days. The most common histological type was adenocarcinoma (63%). Lobectomy was performed in 63% of the patients. Tumor recurrence was noted in 40% of the patients. The average time between recurrence and the surgical treatment was 12 months. The most common location of recurrence was the lung (70%). Recurrence was more common among adenocarcinoma and smokers older than 60 years. The majority of locally advanced and metastatic cancers have recurred. The average survival was 56 ± 4months. Better survival rates were observed in young patients, with less than 25 pack-years of early-stage, no lymph node involvement, and patients who received adjuvant chemotherapy. The probability of survival was 5 years for all tumor stages. CONCLUSION: The prognostic factors for recurrence after radical resection for lung cancer were: the age of patients, smoking history, histological type, tumor stage, and surgical procedure.

Diagnosis of Human Echinococcosis via Exhaled Breath Analysis: A Promise for Rapid Diagnosis of Infectious Diseases Caused by Helminths.

Background: Human echinococcosis is a neglected infectious disease affecting more than 1 million people globally. Its diagnosis is expensive and difficult because of lack of adequate resources in low-resource locations, where most cases occur. Methods: A group of volunteers diagnosed with the 2 main types of echinococcosis and corresponding control groups were recruited from hospitals in Tunisia (32 patients with cystic echinococcosis and 43 controls) and Poland (16 patients with alveolar echinococcosis and 8 controls). Breath samples were collected from all patients and analyzed by gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry, and a specifically developed electronic nose system. Results: The chemical analysis revealed statistically different concentrations of 2 compounds in the breath of patients with cystic echinococcosis compared to controls, and statistically different concentrations of 7 compounds in the breath of patients with alveolar echinococcosis compared to controls. The discrimination accuracy achieved by the electronic nose system was 100% for cystic echinococcosis and 92.9% for alveolar echinococcosis, while the discrimination accuracy between these 2 patient groups was 92.1%. Conclusion: Here we advocate a noninvasive, fast, easy-to-operate and nonexpensive diagnostic tool for the diagnosis of human echinococcosis disease through exhaled breath analysis, suitable for early diagnosis and population screening.

Ligand-Capped Ultrapure Metal Nanoparticle Sensors for the Detection of Cutaneous Leishmaniasis Disease in Exhaled Breath.

Human cutaneous leishmaniasis, although designated as one of the most neglected tropical diseases, remains underestimated due to its misdiagnosis. The diagnosis is mainly based on the microscopic detection of amastigote forms, isolation of the parasite, or the detection of Leishmania DNA, in addition to its differential clinical characterization; these tools are not always available in routine daily practice, and they are expensive and time-consuming. Here, we present a simple-to-use, noninvasive approach for human cutaneous leishmaniasis diagnosis, which is based on the analysis of volatile organic compounds in exhaled breath with an array of specifically designed chemical gas sensors. The study was realized on a group of n = 28 volunteers diagnosed with human cutaneous leishmaniasis and a group of n = 32 healthy controls, recruited in various sites from Tunisia, an endemic country of the disease. The classification success rate of human cutaneous leishmaniasis patients achieved by our sensors test was 98.2% accuracy, 96.4% sensitivity, and 100% specificity. Remarkably, one of the sensors, based on CuNPs functionalized with 2-mercaptobenzoxazole, yielded 100% accuracy, 100% sensitivity, and 100% specificity for human cutaneous leishmaniasis discrimination. While AuNPs have been the most extensively used in metal nanoparticle-ligand sensing films for breath sensing, our results demonstrate that chemical sensors based on ligand-capped CuNPs also hold great potential for breath volatile organic compounds detection. Additionally, the chemical analysis of the breath samples with gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry identified nine putative breath biomarkers for human cutaneous leishmaniasis.