Left Main Bronchus Root Prolongation to Cure 3 Patients whose Carina is Involved by Lung Cancer

Background and objective Patient whose carina is involved by carcinoma is difficult to treat by surgery. The aim of this study is to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of left main bronchus root prolongation to cure these patients. Methods Three patients with lung carcinoma received tumor, right upper lung and carina excision. And then the trachea and the carina was rebuilt by continuous suture, so that the left main bronchus root was extended by 3 cm, then the middle and lower lobe bronchus were sutured to the right lateral wall of the moved up eminence. Results All the patients left hospital successfully after three-week treatment, without anastomotic stoma fistula. And they got good quality of life after 30, 21 and 11 months’ follow-up, no recurrence or metabasis was found. Conclusion The left main bronchus root prolongation can preserve the left lateral wall, however, part of the tracheal mucous membrane and arteria trachealis can be protected without injury. It’s benifit for making productive cough and lowering complications after operation. The new carinal reconstruction process has definite indication, which refer to patient with normal left main bronchus root and the right inferior segment trachea involved by carcinoma

Human osteopontin: potential clinical applications in cancer (Review)

Human osteopontin (OPN) is a glycosylated phosphoprotein which is expressed in a variety of tissues in the body. In recent years, accumulating evidence has indicated that the aberrant expression of OPN is closely associated with tumourigensis, progression and most prominently with metastasis in several tumour types. In this review, we present the current knowledge on the expression profiles of OPN and its main splice variants in human cancers, as well as the potential implications in patient outcome. We also discuss its putative clinical application as a cancer biomarker and as a therapeutic target

Genetic variants in ADAM33 are associated with airway inflammation and lung function in COPD

BACKGROUND: Genetic factors play a role in the development and severity of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The pathogenesis of COPD is a multifactorial process including an inflammatory cell profile. Recent studies revealed that single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within ADAM33 increased the susceptibility to COPD through changing the airway inflammatory process and lung function. METHODS: In this paper, we investigated associations of four polymorphisms (T1, T2, S2 and Q-1) of ADAM33 as well as their haplotypes with pulmonary function and airway inflammatory process in an East Asian population of patients with COPD. RESULTS: We found that T1, T2 and Q-1 were significantly associated with the changes of pulmonary function and components of cells in sputum of COPD, and T1 and Q-1 were significantly associated with cytokines and mediators of inflammation in airway of COPD in recessive models. 10 haplotypes were significantly associated with transfer factor of the lung for carbon monoxide in the disease state, 4 haplotypes were significantly associated with forced expiratory volume in one second, and other haplotypes were associated with airway inflammation. CONCLUSIONS: We confirmed for the first time that ADAM33 was involved in the pathogenesis of COPD by affecting airway inflammation and immune response in an East Asian population. Our results made the genetic background of COPD, a common and disabling disease, more apparent, which would supply genetic support for the study of the mechanism, classification and treatment for this disease. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/1471-2466-14-173) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users