High Proportion of Arsenic Detected in Bronchoalveolar Fluid among Newly Diagnosed Lung Cancer in Jakarta Indonesia.

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to measure arsenic concentration in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid  (BALF ) of newly diagnosed lung cancer and its corelation with clinical profiles. METHODS: This study is a cross-sectional study to identify arsenic levels in newly diagnosed lung cancer patients. Bronchoalveolar lavage fluid was taken during the bronchoscopy. Arsenic concentration was measured using an ICP-EOS spectrometer. RESULTS: Forty-two subjects who met inclusion criteria were recruited in this study. Arsenic metals were detected among 40% of subjects with mean, highest, and lowest values are 0.38 µg/L, 0.5 µg/L, and 0.3 µg/L, respectively. There is no significant difference between arsenic level and patients' demographic and clinical data. CONCLUSION: Arsenic was detected in BALF in majority of newly diagnosed lung cancer patients. Despite the insignificant relationship between arsenic level and patients characteristic, this results is evidence of which arsenic metal exposure in lung cancer during their lifetime and should raise public health awareness regarding mitigating the source of exposure and its potential as lung carcinogenic agent.

TP53 and EGFR Mutational Status in Thymoma: A Genetic Sequencing Study.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Thymoma is a rare malignant tumor that usually with an indolent presentation, which was falsely assumed to be benign previously. The tumor suppressor P53 (TP53) and EGFR gene mutate most frequently in human cancers. We tried to investigate the presence of TP53 and EGFR mutations among thymoma patients referred to an Indonesian referral respiratory hospital and to discuss its potential role in thymoma management and prognosis. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Surgically resected tumor tissues were collected from thymoma patients and then underwent genomic analysis. PCR was performed on the extracted Paraffinized  DNA to amplify exon 6 of TP53 and exons 18, 19, and 21 of EGFR. The evaluation of mutational status was done using direct sequencing and sequence analysis of purified PCR products. RESULTS: Among 27 collected samples, TP53 exon 6 mutation, namely  missense mutation and nonsense mutation, was observed in two samples (7.4%). EGFR exon 18 mutation, namely E709K and nonsense mutation, was found in 2 samples (7.4%). An intronic mutation in EGFR exon 19 (3.7%) and exon 21 (3.7%) was observed in one sample. CONCLUSION: TP53 and EGFR mutations were not most frequent, so it seems that these genes are not involved in the pathogenesis of thymoma in Indonesian patients. Nevertheless, we found two samples with a significant mutation in p53 and EGFR genes, suggesting further research on thymoma prognostification and targeted therapy.