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Background To evaluate the incidence, predictors, and survival of unexpected pN2 disease in patients with clinical stage I non-small cell lung cancer. Methods This is a retrospective observational multicenter study on all consecutive patients operated for clinical stage I non-small cell lung cancer from January 2006 to December 2012. Medical records were reviewed to investigate the incidence and risk factors for unexpected pN2 disease. Then, the survival of patients with unexpected pN2 disease was statistically compared with that of patients with clinical N2 disease operated after induction therapy in the same period. Results Our study population counted 901 patients. An incidence of 12% (108/901) unexpected pN2 disease was found. Among 3,389 lymph nodes sampled, 124 distinct metastases were found. Of the 108 patients, 92 (85%) had metastases in single N2 station and 16 (15%) patients had disease in multiple N2 stations; 47 (44%) had pN2 disease without pN1 involvement (skip metastases) and 61/108 (56%) had also pN1 metastases. Factors associated with unexpected pN2 disease were central tumor location (p 4.0 (0.007). Patients with pN2 disease compared with patients with cN2 disease presented a better median overall survival (56 versus 20 months; p = 0.001) and disease-free survival (46 versus 11 months; p

Background: Plasmoblastic lymphoma is a rare and aggressive subtype of diffuse large B cell lymphoma, which occurs usually in the jaw of immunocompromised subjects. Case presentation: We describe the occurrence of plasmoblastic lymphoma in the mediastinum and chest wall skin of an human immunodeficiency virus-negative 63-year-old Caucasian man who had had polycytemia vera 7 years before. At admission, the patient showed a superior vena cava syndrome, with persistent dyspnoea, cough, and distension of the jugular veins. Imaging findings showed a 9.7 × 8 × 5.7 cm mediastinal mass. A chest wall neoformation biopsy and ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration biopsy of the mediastinal mass allowed diagnosis of plasmoblastic lymphoma and establishment of an immediate chemotherapeutic regimen, with rapid remission of compression symptoms. Conclusions: Plasmoblastic lymphoma is a very uncommon, difficult to diagnose, and aggressive disease. The presented case represents the first rare mediastinal plasmoblastic lymphoma in a human immunodeficiency virus-/human herpesvirus-8-negative patient. Pathologists should be aware that this tumor does appear in sites other than the oral cavity. Fine-needle aspiration biopsy is a low-cost, repeatable, easy-to-perform technique, with a high diagnostic accuracy and with very low complication and mortality rates. Fine-needle aspiration biopsy could represent the right alternative to surgery in those patients affected by plasmoblastic lymphoma, being rapid and minimally invasive. It allowed establishment of prompt medical treatment with subsequent considerable reduction of the neoplastic tissue and resolution of the mediastinal syndrome.

We presented a case of recurrent metastasis from epidermoid cancer that occurred in the left clavicle of a patient with a history of laryngeal cancer treated on April 2005 with extended hemilaryngectomy, neck dissection and chemoradiation therapy. On September 2008, he developed a left clavicular metastasis. The disease was initially well controlled by chemoradiotherapy but it recurred 17 months later. The optimal treatment plan was established by several multidisciplinary meetings and the patient subsequently underwent an en bloc resection of the left clavicle, first rib and all the other involved structures. Coverage of the thoracic defect was achieved using pectoralis major myocutaneous flap. The patient had a successful surgical outcome. At 1-year follow-up, he had no evidence of disease, a good cosmetic result and returned to normal daily activity. He died for bone metastasis with an overall 21 months post-surgical survival. We presented a case of recurrent metastasis from epidermoid cancer that occurred in the left clavicle of a patient with a history of laryngeal cancer treated on April 2005 with extended hemilaryngectomy, neck dissection and chemoradiation therapy. On September 2008, he developed a left clavicular metastasis. The disease was initially well controlled by chemoradiotherapy but it recurred 17 months later. The optimal treatment plan was established by several multidisciplinary meetings and the patient subsequently underwent an en bloc resection of the left clavicle, first rib and all the other involved structures. Coverage of the thoracic defect was achieved using pectoralis major myocutaneous flap. The patient had a successful surgical outcome. At 1-year follow-up, he had no evidence of disease, a good cosmetic result and returned to normal daily activity. He died for bone metastasis with an overall 21 months post-surgical survival.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of the present paper was to conduct a comparative analysis of outcomes after thoracoscopic resection versus standard thoracotomy approach in the treatment of Pancoast tumours. METHODS: All consecutive patients with Pancoast tumours undergoing surgical treatment from March 2000 to November 2012 were enrolled. Patients were divided into 2 groups according to whether a thoracoscopic or standard thoracotomy approach was adopted. In addition to morbidity and mortality, (i) intensity of pain; (ii) respiratory function focusing on the postoperative value and its variation with respect to the predicted value (Delta); (iii) analgesic consumption at different times during the postoperative course; and (iiii) survival rate were recorded in both groups and the inter-group differences were statistically compared. RESULTS: Of the 45 enrolled patients, 34 (75%) were included in the final analysis (18 in the thoracoscopic group and 16 in the standard group). Eleven (25%) patients were excluded because they (i) were unfit for surgery after induction therapy (n = 4); (ii) refused the operation (n = 1) or (iii) had unexpected pleural involvement (n = 6). Compared with the standard group, in the thoracoscopic group we observed less pain (P = 0.01), better recovery of forced vital capacity (P = 0.01) and forced expiratory value in 1 s (P < 0.001), and a reduction in opioid (P = 0.01) and analgesic consumption (P = 0.02). The median survival for all patients was 15 months. Patients with N0/N1 disease had better median survival than N2 patients (47 vs 9 months; P = 0.009). One local recurrence in the standard group was observed 1 year after operation, whereas 2 local recurrences, 1 in the thoracoscopic group and another in the standard group, were registered 2 years after the operation (P = 1.0). Finally, 4 (22%) extrathoracic metastases in the thoracoscopic group and 5 (31%) in the standard group (P = 0.8) were found over the 2 years following the procedure. CONCLUSIONS: In the management of Pancoast tumours, a thoracoscopic approach is safe and may be an effective adjunct to standard surgical resection in selected cases. Such an approach enabled surgeons to explore the pleural cavity and avoid exploratory thoracotomy in cases of unexpected pleural involvement. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery. All rights reserved.

We describe our experience using video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) as an adjunct to the surgical management of Pancoast tumors. Between March 2004 and November 2009, 13 patients with Pancoast tumors were included in this study. Surgery was performed by positioning the patient to allow either an anterior or a posterior thoracotomy. VATS was employed to explore the pleural cavity, to optimize the surgical access and as an assistance during surgical resection. Three patients with pleural carcinosis at thoracoscopy did not undergo further surgery. Seven lobectomies and three wedge resections were performed with an en bloc chest-wall resection and mediastinal lymphadenectomy. The surgical approaches were a transmanubrial L-shaped incision (ns1), a posterior thoracotomy (ns8), and a combined transmanubrial and posterior thoracotomy (ns1) which were dictated by the thoracoscopic findings. The average operative time was 200 min (range: 185–280 min); the average blood loss was 325 ml (range: 250–1200 ml). The average hospitalization was nine days (range: 8–30 days). Our study indicates that VATS may be an effective and safe adjunct to standard surgical resection in patients with Pancoast tumors. It reduces the magnitude of surgery, either by sparing the patient a useless thoracotomy or, by optimizing the site of the thoracotomy. It may also have a significant educational role.