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2023 APR 29 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Obesity, Fitness & Wellness Week -- Current study results on squamous cell carcinoma have been published. According to [...]

Background. The prognosis of patients who have non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) with mediastinal lymph node metastases remains a controversial issue. This study was performed to evaluate survival by level of mediastinal lymph node metastasis and the number of mediastinal levels involved. Methods. The authors retrospectively reviewed the cases of 113 patients with NSCLC and pathologic mediastinal lymph node involvement who underwent a complete tumor resection and ipsilateral mediastinal lymphadenectomy. Results. Most patients presented with involvement of only one mediastinal lymph node level (68.2%). The overall survival rate was 17% at 3 years. No differences in survival were observed in relation to which lymph node level was involved (P = 0.667). Differences in survival based on the number of lymph node levels involved were statistically significant (P = 0.001). Conclusions. Although there were no differences in survival when only one of any of the three defined levels was involved, metastasis to more than one level was associated with significantly poorer survival.

In lung cancer patients, the extent of lymph node metastases has the most important impact on the prognosis. In particular, patients with mediastinal lymph node metastases have a wors prognosis [...]

Advances in chemotherapy have improved the prognosis of germ cell tumors of the testes. However, such tumors, which include seminomas, embryonal carcinomas, choriocarcinomas, endodermal sinus tumors, and mixed germ cell tumors, are not limited to the testes. Germ cell tumors may arise in other sites, the most common being the mediastinal cavity of the chest and behind the peritoneal cavity of the abdomen. Studies of cisplatin in the treatment of these tumors have reported long-term survival rates of above 40 percent. A review of 15 cases of germ cell tumors occurring in the mediastinal cavity indicates that the histological appearance of the tumors can indicate the likelihood of successful treatment. One of the features of germ cell tumors is that tissue components resembling a wide variety of different adult tissues may arise. Among the 15 cases, the tumors of 4 patients were observed to contain sarcomatous elements, that is, tissues with the appearance of a sarcoma (a tumor arising from the embryonic mesoderm). All four of these patients died of their tumors; the median survival was nine months. Of the remaining 11 patients, 6 were disease-free 5 to 8 years after diagnosis. Sarcomatous elements seem, therefore, to portend a poor outcome among patients with mediastinal germ cell tumors. More aggressive therapy, possibly using techniques that have been effective against sarcomas, may be more appropriate in the treatment of these patients. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)