CMS determined that the evidence of benefit for CT screening for lung cancer is sufficient to permit this as an annual benefit for Medicare and Medicaid recipients in the US. The availability of such coverage will be limited, however, by the need to have the screening as part of a comprehensive counseling (smoking cessation, etc) visit with qualifie
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Lung
November 11, 2014
November 11, 2014
This study explored financial conflicts of interest (FCOI) among authors of published guidelines and consensus statements and their relationship to endorsement of specific drugs. 93% of recent articles reported FCOI status. Of articles publishing funding sources, 65% reported partial or full industry funding. Endorsement of chemotherapeutic agents
November 11, 2014
Differentiating a primary lung cancer from an intrapulmonary metastasis can be challenging. The authors developed a lineage test using whole genome amplification and next-generation sequencing to identify breakpoints in known primary tumors and known metastases. Independent primary tumors did not share any genomic rearrangements, whereas primary tu
November 10, 2014
Joel Dunning talks with Douglas Wood about key aspects of general thoracic surgery and the importance of specialization for the future of the specialty in a interview recorded at the 2014 EACTS Annual Meeting.
November 5, 2014
The authors examined cost-effectiveness in the National Lung Screening Trial (NLST), examining incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) and quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) associated with low dose CT screening. The ICER was $52,000 per life-year gained and the $81,000 per QALY gained. These values were very sensitive to variations in the scr
November 5, 2014
The potential benefit of wedge resection vs anatomic resection for stage I and II lung cancer was examined using propensity score matching for pts from the STS Database. Over 3700 pts were matched in each group. Wedge resection was associated with fewer major complications (4.5% vs 9.0%) and lower mortality (1.2% vs 1.9%). Wedge resection reduced
November 4, 2014
Gilbert Massard of the Centre Hospitalier, France discusses the surgical treatment of thoracic infections, including: empyema, aspergillosis, and tuberculosis.
October 16, 2014
Because of the observation that already debilitated pts who undergo lung resection become even more debilitated afterwards, the authors conducted a randomized trial of endurance and strength training for 20 wks after major lung resection. Training significantly improved peak VO2, DLCO, strength, endurance, and muscle mass compared to controls. Qual
October 15, 2014
It seems that patients with lung or colorectal cancer have poor enrollment in clinical trials, according to the recent multiregional survey carried out by the authors in a cohort of 8778 patients three to six months after diagnosis. Only 14% of patients have discussed their participation in clinical trials.
October 15, 2014
Using a data set of over 76,000 women from the Women's Health Initiative Observational Study, the effects of active and passive smoking on cancer were evaluated. Lung cancer incidence was highest among active smokers (HR 13.44) and was also high among prior smokers (HR 4.20). A prolonged exposure (>30 yr) to passive smoking in the household also