High grade tumor budding is associated with poor survival in pathologic stage I lung adenocarcinoma.

AIM: Tumor budding is a significant prognostic parameter that has been related to aggressive behavior in early-stage tumors of various origins. The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinicopathological significance of tumor budding in pathologic stage (pStage) I lung adenocarcinomas. METHODS: This study comprised 107 patients who underwent curative resection for pStage I lung adenocarcinomas at our hospital between December 2010 and January 2016. We examined tumor budding on routine hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) slides from resected specimens. Tumors were categorized into two groups based on the degree of tumor budding: low grade (grade 0-1) and high grade (grade 2-3). We evaluated the relationship between tumor budding and overall survival (OS), disease-free survival (DFS) and clinicopathological parameters. RESULTS: There is a significant difference (p = 0.002) between the 5-year DFS rates of the high-grade and the low-grade tumor budding group, which were 70 % and 90 %, respectively. High-grade tumor budding positive patients from the same pathological stage (p < 0.001; HR = 2.93 [1.51-5.68]) and clinical stage (p = 0.002) had poorer cumulative survival rates than low grade tumor budding positive patients. High grade tumor budding was positively associated with spread through air spaces (STAS) (p < 0 0.001), lymphovascular invasion (LVI) (p < 0.001), tumor necrosis (p < 0.001), high SUVmax value (SUVmax>3.0) (p < 0.001), and tumor size >20 mm (p = 0.024). High-grade tumor budding was significant prognostic factor of OS (p < 0.006) and DFS (p < 0.001) on univariate Cox regression hazard model analysis. However, it did not show significance in the multivariate analysis (p > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: High-grade tumor budding is an independent prognostic factor and associated with adverse clinicopathological features and poor survival rates. We proposed that high-grade tumor budding should be recognized as a new prognostic parameter and will be beneficial in predicting the clinical course in pStage I lung adenocarcinomas.

Paclitaxel-induced dermal hypersensitivity lesions: 2-deoxy-2-[18F]fluoro-D-glucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography.

Paclitaxel is frequently used for the treatment of patients with nonsmall cell lung cancer. Hypersensitivity reactions (HSRs) have been one of the toxicities observed with administration of paclitaxel. Here, we presented a case of a 49-year-old man with a history of right lung mass proven by biopsy to be a nonsmall cell lung cancer (squamous cell carcinoma) who developed HSR during therapy. In addition to the hypermetabolic primary malignancy, a positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) scan showed multiple hypermetabolic skin lesions at several parts of the body. These cutaneous lesions were resolved in the restaging PET/CT scan performed after completion of the six cycles of chemotherapy. This is the first documented case of comparative PET/CT findings of a paclitaxel-induced hypersensitivity.

18F-FDG PET/CT Imaging of Hodgkin Lymphoma in a Child with Common Variable Immunodeficiency.

Common variable immunodeficiency is characterized by low levels of serum immunoglobulins and antibodies, recurrent infections, and a predisposition to malignancy. Here, we present the 18F-FDG PET/CT findings of a 7-y-old boy with common variable immunodeficiency and Hodgkin lymphoma.

The role of FDG PET/CT in evaluation of mediastinal masses and neurogenic tumors of chest wall.

UNLABELLED: We evaluated the efficiency of FDG PET/CT for the differentiation of malignant from benign mediastinal masses and neurogenic tumors of chest-wall. METHODS: The 88 patients with chest wall-mediastinal masses who underwent examination before operation were retrospectively reviewed. Size, CT density (HU mean) and SUVmax of mediastinal and chest wall lesions were determined. Statistical differences of these parameters were compared between groups by Mann-Whitney U test. Receiver-operating characteristic curve (ROC) analysis with respect to SUVmax was performed to determine the best cutoff value for differentiating benign from malignant masses. RESULTS: The overall sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) of PET/CT in detection of malignancy were 90%, 55.17%, 67%, 50.94% and 91.43%, respectively. The SUVmax, HU mean and size were higher in malignant cases (P < 0.05). To distinguish benign and malignant lesions, the cut off value of SUVmax was 4.67. The lesion SUVmax was significantly associated with the lesion size and lesion HU mean values (P < 0.05). The value of SUVmax and HU mean were higher in solid benign lesions than those of cystic benign lesions (P < 0.05). The lesion size was higher in cystic lesions (P = 0.000). The mean SUVmax was significantly higher in invasive thymomas than those of non-invasive forms (P = 0.029). CONCLUSION: FDG PET/CT may be complementary to conventional imaging methods for the evaluation of mediastinal and chest wall masses. PET/CT may reduce unnecessary invasive investigations for diagnosis in patients with nonavid or low avid FDG lesions. However confirmatory tissue sampling is required to confirm PET positive findings for the definite diagnosis.

18F-FDG PET/CT rarely provides additional information other than primary tumor detection in patients with pulmonary carcinoid tumors.

AIM: The purpose of this study was to assess the contribution of (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) Positron Emission Tomography (PET)/Computed Tomography (CT) in detection and staging of pulmonary carcinoid tumors. METHODS: A total of 22 patients with pulmonary carcinoid tumors (14 typical, 8 atypical) were reviewed in this retrospective study. PET/CT images of all patients were evaluated for primary tumor as well as metastatic regional lymph nodes, bone and other distant metastases. PET/CT positivity of primary tumors was determined by visual interpretation. Tumor size, SUVmax and Hounsfield Unit (HU) values of the tumors were used to test for differences between tumor groups (typical carcinoids and atypical carcinoids). RESULTS: SUVmax of carcinoids ranged from 1.24 to 11.1 (mean, 5.0; median, 2.67). The mean largest diameter of primary tumors was 2.7 ± 1.3 cm, ranging from 1 to 5.5 cm. The overall sensitivity of FDG PET/CT for detection of pulmonary carcinoid tumors was 81.8%. Tumor size, SUVmax and Hounsfield Unit (HU) values of the atypical carcinoids were higher than those for typical carcinoids. However, the results were not statistically meaningful (P > 0.05). The sensitivity and specificity of FDG PET/CT in the detection of mediastinal and hilar lymph nodes metastases were 25% and 83% respectively. One patient had bone metastasis. CONCLUSION: Although FDG PET/CT can be a useful tool for the detection of pulmonary carcinoid tumors and distant metastasis, it cannot discriminate typical carcinoids from atypical ones and absence of an FDG avid lesion cannot exclude pulmonary carcinoid tumors. Moreover, PET/CT is not a reliable tool in the staging of mediastinal and hilar lymph nodes especially for those patients with typical carcinoids.