Chest
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Lung cancer is the principal cause of cancer-related mortality in the developed world, accounting for almost one-quarter of all cancer deaths. Traditional treatment algorithms have largely relied on histologic subtype and have comprised pragmatic chemotherapy regimens with limited efficacy. However, because our understanding of the molecular basis of disease in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has improved exponentially, it has become apparent that NSCLC can be radically subdivided, or molecularly characterized, based on recurrent driver mutations occurring in specific oncogenes. ⋯ These were tremendously successful, significantly affecting the natural history of NSCLC and improving patient outcomes. However, the benefits of these drugs are somewhat limited by the emergence of adaptive resistance mechanisms, and efforts to tackle this phenomenon are ongoing. A better understanding of all types of oncogene-driven NSCLC and the occurrence of TKI resistance will help us to further develop second- and third-generation small molecule inhibitors and will expand our range of precision therapies for this disease.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Dyspnea-related cues engage the prefrontal cortex: Evidence from functional brain imaging in COPD.
Dyspnea is the major source of disability in COPD. In COPD, environmental cues (eg, the prospect of having to climb stairs) become associated with dyspnea and may trigger dyspnea even before physical activity commences. We hypothesized that brain activation relating to such cues would be different between patients with COPD and healthy control subjects, reflecting greater engagement of emotional mechanisms in patients. ⋯ The findings suggest that engagement of the emotional circuitry of the brain is important for interpretation of dyspnea-related cues in COPD and is influenced by depression, fatigue, and vigilance. A heightened response to salient cues is associated with increased symptom perception in chronic pain and asthma, and the findings suggest that such mechanisms may be relevant in COPD.
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Chronic care management describes the services provided to patients with two or more chronic conditions that pose risks of exacerbation, clinical deterioration, or death. These services extend beyond the typical face-to-face office visit and require coordination and oversight by a physician or other qualified health-care professional to maintain and modify as necessary a comprehensive and multidisciplinary plan of care. New codes for 2015 describe chronic care management services per calendar month. While the new services acknowledge the role and importance of coordination by primary care providers, they are also appropriate for specialists who oversee the management of all of the chronic conditions of a patient and provide access, education, care coordination, communication, and health information exchange with other providers.
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OSA is a common condition that has been associated with atrial fibrillation (AF), but there is a paucity of data from large longitudinal cohorts to establish whether OSA is a risk factor for AF independent of obesity and other established risk factors. ⋯ OSA diagnosis and severity are independently associated with incident AF. Clinical trials are required to determine if treatment of OSA will reduce the burden of AF.
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Consensus on how best to express bronchodilator reversibility (BDR) is lacking. We tested different BDR criteria against the null hypotheses that BDR should show no sex or size bias. To determine the best criterion for defining BDR, we hypothesized that clinically important BDR should be associated with better survival in respiratory patients compared with that of patients without BDR. ⋯ We have shown that expressing FEV1 BDR as % predicted avoids sex and size bias. FEV1 BDR > 8% predicted showed optimal survival advantage and may be the most appropriate criterion to define clinically important reversibility.