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OBJECTIVE: Lung cancer (LC) is one of the most frequently diagnosed cancers and the leading cause of cancer mortality worldwide. The aim of this study was to get a comprehensive insight into the epidemiology of LC among patients in Vojvodina, the Northern Serbian region, during the ten-year period. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This retrospective study was performed using LC hospital registry data of the Institute for Pulmonary Diseases of Vojvodina (IPBV) from 2011 to 2020. All patients reported in the registry with a place of residence in Vojvodina were included in this study. The data used in this research were: date of diagnosis, gender, age at diagnosis, place of residence, smoking habits at diagnosis, the intensity of smoking (pack/years), ECOG performance (0-5), histological cancer type, TNM classification and disease stage. RESULTS: A total of 12,055 LC patients were included, 69.6% of whom were male. The percentage of female LC patients significantly increased, from 26.9% in 2011 to 35.9% in 2020 (p<0.001). Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) was diagnosed in 80.8% of patients, while 15.4% of patients had small cell lung cancer (SCLC). The most common histological type was adenocarcinoma (41.9%), followed by squamous cell carcinoma (30.0%) and SCLC (15.4%). CONCLUSIONS: The number of diagnosed LC patients in the Northern Serbian region increased over the past decade and is significantly higher in females. There was a strong correlation between smoking habits and LC in both genders. Our results also indicate the importance of introducing and promoting LC screening programs for all risk populations, particularly current and ex-smokers of younger age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/Aim. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has multiple impacts on the management of cancer patients. Treatment of malignancies, including chemotherapy, targeted therapy, immunotherapy, and radiotherapy, can suppress the immune system and lead to the development of severe complications of COVID-19. The aim of this study was to determine the mortality of lung cancer (LC) patients in whom the COVID-19 was confirmed during active antitumor treatment. Methods. This retrospective study was conducted at the Institute for Pulmonary Diseases of Vojvodina, Sremska Kamenica, Serbia. All patients included in the study underwent active anticancer treatment at the time of diagnosis of COVID-19. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection was determined by a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test. Patient data were collected using the institutional database and the observed period was from November 20, 2020, to June 5, 2021. Statistical analysis of the derived patient data used multivariate and univariate testing. Results. Out of 828 observed COVID-19 hospitalized patients, 81 were LC patients on active antitumor treatment. Patients were predominantly male (67.9%), smokers (55.6%), and with an average age of 66.5 years (range 43–83). The majority of patients (50.6%) had the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group Performance Status (ECOG PS) 1, and 83.9% had at least one comorbidity. The most common comorbidities were arterial hypertension (66.7%), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) (28.4%), and diabetes mellitus (21%). Obesity, congestive heart failure, and other cardiovascular diseases were present in 11%, 6.2%, and 7.4% of patients, respectively. The most common was adenocarcinoma (33.3%), followed by squamous (30.9%) and small-cell LC (24.7%). Predominantly, 63% of the patients were in stage III of the disease, and 33.3% were in stage IV. Metastases were most commonly present in the contralateral lung/pleura (14.8%), brain (6.2%), bone (3.7%), and liver (3.7%). Systemic anticancer therapy was applied in 37 out of 81 patients (45.6%), chest radiotherapy in 35 (43.2%), concurrent chemo-radiotherapy in 1 (1.2%), and other types of radiotherapy in 8 (9.87%) patients. The most common forms of systemic therapy were chemotherapy (35.8%), immunotherapy (7.4%), and targeted therapy (2.4%). The most common chemotherapy was a cisplatin-based regiment applied in 34.6% of patients. The mortality from COVID-19 was 19.8%. The statistical significance in relation to the type of treatment was not observed. Statistical significance was observed between mortality and the ECOG PS (p = 0.011). Conclusion. LC patients are dependent on antitumor treatment and, at the same time, highly susceptible to potential infection. In this study, we did not find statistically significant differences in mortality related to the type of antitumor treatment in COVID-19 positive LC patients. Further detailed research on a larger scale is needed in order to explore the effects of SARS-CoV-2 on cancer patients. All possible methods of protection against SARS-CoV-2 virus should be performed in order to minimize the risk of infection in all but especially in immunocompromised cancer patients.

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Introduction. The splenic involvement is common in sarcoidosis, but its real frequency is still obscure, depending doubtless on the method of splenomegaly detection. Splenomegaly may be accompanied with pain or anemia, leucopenia and thrombocytopenia. Objective. The aim of this study was to investigate the frequency of splenomegaly related to clinical characteristics of sarcoidosis and to solve the dilemma - whether to introduce medicaments, and when to perform splenectomy. Methods. The method of the study is a retrospective and prospective analysis of the patients’ material. Results. The study included 540 patients with sarcoidosis in a 20-year period. Of them, 26% had splenomegaly detected by computerized tomography screening. Splenomegaly was more frequently registered in the patients with a longer history of sarcoidosis (38%), as compared to those with a shorter history of the disease (23%) (p

Introduction. Pseudomembranous necrotizing Aspergillus tracheobronchitis is a rare form of pulmonary aspergillosis which occurs in immunocompromised patients. Case Outline. A female patient aged 71, suffering from acute myeloid leukemia, developed the symptoms of progressive shortness of breath and inspiratory stridor. The diagnosis in our case was made on the histological findings from tissues obtained by bronchoscopy. A chest CT scan suggested the state of the compromised trachea and left principal bronchus lumen. The long-term regimen with itraconazole in the dose of 400 mg/24 hours proved efficient in our patient. Conclusion. Progressive shortness of breath and inspiratory stridor in immunocompromised patients along with radiological and CT changes should be also considered as pulmonary aspergillosis in differential diagnosis. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 175056]

Analysis of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in human breath can provide information about the current physiological state of an individual, such as clinical conditions and exposure to exogenous pollutants. The blood-borne VOCs present in exhaled breath offer the possibility of exploring physiological and pathological processes in a noninvasive way. However, the field of exhaled breath analysis is still in its infancy. We undertook this study in order to define interindividual variation and common compounds in breath VOCs of 48 young human volunteers. Alveolar breath samples were analyzed by automated thermal desorption, gas chromatography with flame ionization detector (FID) and electron capture detector (ECD) using SUPELCO standards with 66 compounds. Predominant compounds in the alveolar breath of analyzed subjects are ethylbenzene, 1-ethyl-4-methylbenzene, 1,2,4-trimethylbenzene and 1,3,5-trimethylbenzene (over 50% of the subjects). Isopropyl alcohol, propylene, acetone, ethanol were found as well. We detected substituted compounds in exhaled breath. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 172001]

Abstract Background The major aim of this study was to investigate what patients with advanced stage lung cancer, enrolled in a clinical trial, thought about their treatment. We also wanted to investigate if there exist any characteristics that could influence patients' opinion about the clinical trial. Patients and methods Over the period from June 2008 to June 2009, 59 eligible patients were enrolled in this study. The major inclusion criteria were: participation in a clinical trial, previously treated advanced stage lung cancer, and good performance status (ECOG 0-2). All patients were asked to answer a questionnaire designed to investigate their impressions about participation in a clinical trial. The questionnaire was deposited in a sealed box which was opened at the end of the study.We investigated a possible influence of age, gender, education, lung cancer stage, chemotherapy line and tumor type on the patients' opinion about some aspects of the clinical trial. Results The majority of the patients were aware they were participating in the clinical trial and a significant number of them were very satisfied with the treatment. Of the investigated factors, only the level of education had a statistically significant influence on some of the questions raised in the questionnaire. Conclusions Patients participating in clinical trials are satisfied with their treatment, ready to proceed with it and would recommend it to other patients. It depends mainly on health professionals to maintain this level of confidence and justify their trust.

Argon plasma coagulation (APC) is one of the interventional pulmonology techniques primarily aimed at the treatment of hemoptysis. It represents a form of non contact electrosurgey that uses ionized argon gas in order to produce electrical current that affects soft tissues. APC is reported to be effective in the treatment of early stage lung cancer, in the treatment of benign granulation tissue surrounding tracheal stents and in palliative treatment of malignant airway obstruction. Major indication for APC is hemostasis in severe hemoptysis, it can also be used as an alternative technique for laser resection or electrocautery, in urgent removal of tumors situated in large airways. The present article reports successful use of APC in the treatment of centrally located squamous cell lung cancer that caused complete right lung atelectasis. The use of APC led to complete reexpansion of the right lung and improvement in dyspnoea and chest discomfort of the patient. Significant improvement was observed in lung function parameters and blood gas analysis. With the use of APC solid tumor was completely removed from the right main bronchus and airway integrity was restored. From this case we can conclude that APC can be safely and successfully used for urgent debulking of malignant central airway obstruction.