Impact of Travel Distance on Surgical Outcomes of Patients Surgically Treated for Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: A Single-Center Study in Ehime, Japan.

Travel burden is a poor prognostic factor for many cancers worldwide because it hinders optimal diagnosis and treatment planning. Currently, the impact of travel burden on survival after surgery for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in Japan is largely unexplored. We examined the impact of travel distance on the postoperative outcomes of patients with NSCLC in Ehime Prefecture, Japan. The data of 1212 patients who underwent surgical resection for NSCLC were retrospectively reviewed. Patients were divided into quartiles based on the travel distance from their home to the hospital (≤ 13 km, 13-40 km, 40-57 km, and > 57 km) in Ehime Prefecture. We found no significant differences among the quartiles in baseline clinicopathological characteristics, including sex, smoking status, histology, surgical procedure, clinical stage, and pathological stage. Overall survival (OS) and relapse-free survival (RFS) also were not significantly different among the travel distance quartiles. We conclude that travel distance did not impact OS or RFS among patients with NSCLC who underwent surgical resection at our institution.

Benign Mesothelial Cells in transbronchial biopsy specimens: A potential diagnostic pitfall for lung cancer.

Bronchoscopy is a common diagnostic procedure used to identify lung cancer. Specimens acquired through transbronchial biopsy are pivotal in the diagnosis and molecular characterization of this disease. The occurrence of benign mesothelial cells during a transbronchial biopsy (TBB) is relatively rare. Furthermore, these lesions can sometimes be erroneously identified as malignant, potentially resulting in unwarranted or inappropriate treatment for patients with and without lung cancer. In this retrospective analysis, we examined 619 TBB cases at our institute from 2019 to 2021. Benign mesothelial cells were identified via immunohistochemical studies in eight (1.3%) of 619 cases. These cells were classified into three patterns based on their cellular morphology: monolayer, lace, and cobblestone. Recognizing this phenomenon during the procedure is crucial to accurately distinguish benign mesothelial cells from their cancerous counterparts.