Publications by authors named "Kana Watanabe"

Advanced lung cancer complicated by idiopathic interstitial pneumonia (IIP) is difficult to treat because anticancer agents can worsen IIP. The efficacy and risks of treatment remain unknown and no standard chemotherapy regimen has been established for this condition. The central institutional review board approved this study.

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Introduction: In locally advanced epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-mutant non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), the efficacy and safety of durvalumab after concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) remain controversial.

Methods: In this retrospective cohort study, we analyzed treatment outcomes in patients with unresectable stage III sensitizing EGFR-mutant NSCLC who underwent and completed CCRT without progression between July 2015 and June 2022 from 48 institutions in Japan. Patients with confirmed EGFR mutations after recurrence were excluded.

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Millimeter-sized silicate spherules embedded in primitive meteorites, namely, "chondrules," are the primary solid component of the early solar nebula. They exhibit distinctive solidification textures, formed through rapid cooling from a molten state. The formation conditions of these textures have primarily been inferred on the basis of dynamic crystallization experiments; however, the theoretical verification of the solidification process has been largely neglected.

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Background: Skin disorders are major adverse events associated with necitumumab plus gemcitabine and cisplatin (Neci + GC) administration. However, the prognostic effect of skin disorders in patients with lung squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) administered Neci + GC is unclear.

Objectives: We examined this prognostic effect in patients with LSCC, and the usefulness of minocycline administration.

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Background: The clinical impact of hypomagnesemia induced by necitumumab plus gemcitabine and cisplatin (GCN) as a second-line or later therapy is unclear.

Objective: We aimed to evaluate the clinical characteristics and survival impact of hypomagnesemia induced by this therapy.

Design: This was a sub-analysis of the retrospective multicenter NINJA study.

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Introduction: The efficacy and safety of sotorasib plus platinum doublet chemotherapy in KRAS G12C-mutated nonsquamous NSCLC (nonsq NSCLC) have been previously reported with a limited follow-up period.

Methods: SCARLET is a single-arm phase 2 study involving chemotherapy-naive patients with KRAS G12C-mutated nonsq NSCLC. The participants received 960 mg daily plus four cycles of carboplatin (area under the curve = 5)/pemetrexed 500 mg/m, followed by sotorasib/pemetrexed until disease progression.

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Article Synopsis
  • Cancer cachexia frequently occurs in advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and its impact on chemotherapy is not fully understood.
  • A study involving 887 NSCLC patients identified that 31.7% experienced weight loss indicative of cachexia, with variations in quality of life (QOL) observed across different treatment groups.
  • Results showed that quality of life declined more significantly in chemotherapy patients compared to those receiving targeted therapies or immune checkpoint inhibitors, especially within the first week of treatment.
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Background: There is an increased risk of acute exacerbation of idiopathic interstitial pneumonia when treating patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer with idiopathic interstitial pneumonia. There is no standard optimal treatment regimen for patients with lung cancer complicated with idiopathic interstitial pneumonia. We aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of carboplatin (CBDCA), bevacizumab (Bmab) and weekly paclitaxel (PXT) in patients with idiopathic interstitial pneumonia.

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  • The study investigates the risks and survival outcomes for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients with pre-existing autoimmune disorders (AIDs) undergoing immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) therapy.
  • Conducted across 20 centers in Japan, it analyzed data from 229 patients, revealing that 25.4% experienced AID flare-ups while receiving ICB, particularly those diagnosed with NSCLC within a year of their AID diagnosis.
  • The results suggest that ICB therapy not only extends survival but also emphasizes its potential benefit for NSCLC patients with AIDs, despite some associated immune-related adverse effects.
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  • Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) are standard treatment for advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and this study investigates the impact of upfront radiotherapy for brain metastases (BMs) in patients treated with either ICI alone or ICI plus chemotherapy.
  • An analysis of 591 patients across multiple institutions revealed that those receiving upfront radiotherapy alongside ICI alone had significantly longer overall survival compared to those who did not receive radiotherapy.
  • However, in the group treated with ICI-chemo, the addition of upfront radiotherapy did not show any significant survival benefit, suggesting different responses to treatment strategies.
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Introduction: Necitumumab plus gemcitabine and cisplatin (GCN) is a standard therapy for patients with advanced lung squamous cell carcinoma (LSqCC). However, the efficacy and tolerability of GCN in second-line or later treatment for patients previously treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) remain unknown.

Methods: This multicenter, retrospective, cohort study assessed the efficacy and tolerability of GCN initiated between November 1, 2019 and March 31, 2022 as second-line to fourth-line treatment in patients with advanced LSqCC who had been pretreated with ICIs.

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Background/aim: Osimertinib is currently used as a first-line treatment for EGFR-mutated non-small cell lung cancer, and the emergence of drug resistance poses a substantial challenge. Liquid biopsy with a multi-gene panel can examine both the molecular mechanisms and possibility of early resistance diagnosis.

Patients And Methods: We used a molecular barcode library construction kit (Archer LiquidPlex™) that allowed the analysis of multiple cancer-related genes using cell-free DNA from the plasma samples of patients.

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Osimertinib is a standard treatment for patients with EGFR-mutated non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC). We evaluated the relationship between plasma osimertinib concentrations and treatment outcome in patients with NSCLC for this cohort study. The plasma levels of osimertinib and its metabolite AZ5104 were measured a week after the start of treatment (P1).

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Article Synopsis
  • Osimertinib is a targeted therapy for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in patients with the T790M mutation, typically identified after treatment with other EGFR inhibitors.
  • A study analyzed plasma samples from NSCLC patients every 8 weeks during osimertinib therapy to monitor resistance mutations, finding high clearance rates for the T790M mutation and other activating mutations shortly after starting treatment.
  • The results indicated that plasma EGFR mutation analysis could effectively predict treatment outcomes, with a response rate of 53.4% and longer treatment durations linked to successful mutation clearance.
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Objective: Cochlear implantation (CI) for the treatment of single-sided deafness (SSD) is a relatively new treatment modality. Although comparing the effectiveness of CI and contralateral routing of signal (CROS) hearing aids (HAs) is important, very few reports on this topic exist. In this study, objective assessments and subjective assessments were conducted to determine which SSD individuals would prefer CI or CROS HAs.

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Teleost oocytes are surrounded by a structure called chorion or egg envelopes, which is composed of zona pellucida (ZP) proteins. As a result of the gene duplication in teleost, the expression site of the zp genes, coding the major component protein of egg envelopes, changed from the ovary to the maternal liver. In Euteleostei, there are three liver-expressed zp genes, named choriogenin (chg) h, chg hm, and chg l, and the composition of the egg envelope is mostly made up of these Chgs.

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Introduction: Pembrolizumab is a programmed death-ligand 1 inhibitor that was initially indicated for monotherapy in patients with advanced lung cancer. The Japanese Lung Cancer Society conducted an observational study on pembrolizumab using confirmative data obtained through postmarketing all-case surveillance (PMACS), which was performed by a pharmaceutical company under the Japanese law in 2017.

Methods: This multicenter observational study was conducted by the Japanese Lung Cancer Society using PMACS data with the newly created central registration system regarding patients with NSCLC who received pembrolizumab monotherapy between February 1, 2017 and June 30, 2017; a new database was created by adding the clinical information regarding prognosis for 3 years after therapy to the existing data collected by PMACS.

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We conducted a multicenter phase II trial to evaluate the efficacy and safety of S-1 and irinotecan combination therapy in patients with epidermal growth factor receptor-mutated non-small-cell lung cancer treated with epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors. Epidermal growth factor receptor-mutated non-small-cell lung cancer patients treated with epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors and platinum-based chemotherapy received 80 mg/m S-1 on days 1-14 and 70 mg/m irinotecan on days 1 and 8 of a 21-day cycle. The primary endpoint was disease control rate 8 weeks after enrollment.

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Article Synopsis
  • In the NEJ009 phase III study, combining gefitinib with chemotherapy (carboplatin and pemetrexed) led to better progression-free survival (PFS) than gefitinib alone for patients with untreated non-small-cell lung cancer with EGFR mutations.
  • The updated results showed a median overall survival (OS) of 49.0 months for the combination therapy compared to 38.5 months for gefitinib alone, although the difference wasn't statistically significant.
  • The combination regimen (GCP) also maintained an acceptable safety profile without severe adverse events, proving to be a more effective first-line treatment option compared to gefitinib monotherapy.
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  • The study focuses on a group of stag beetles from Japan, specifically their co-evolution with yeast symbionts in relation to heat tolerance in different climatic zones.
  • Researchers examined yeast colonies from 37 female beetles, determining how well they grew and survived at various temperatures, with findings showing correlations between yeast heat tolerance and environmental factors like elevation and temperature.
  • It was concluded that the heat tolerance of these yeast symbionts could limit the habitat range of the beetles, suggesting a relationship where environmental conditions influence both the beetles' preferences and their yeast symbionts' heat tolerance.
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For the evaluation of novel therapeutic agents for diabetic kidney disease (DKD), it is desirable to examine their efficacy in animal models by using the glomerular filtration rate (GFR) as an index. For this purpose, animal models that demonstrate a short-term GFR decline because of disease progression are required. Therefore, we aimed to develop such an animal model of DKD by using obese type 2 diabetic spontaneously diabetic Torii (SDT) fatty rats treated with salt loading by drinking water containing sodium chloride with or without unilateral nephrectomy.

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  • Epidermal growth factor receptor-tyrosine kinase inhibitors (EGFR-TKIs) are the standard treatment for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with EGFR mutations, but immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) show lower effectiveness in these cases.
  • A study analyzed 25 patients with EGFR-mutated NSCLC who received ICIs after EGFR-TKIs, identifying better outcomes in those with the L858R mutation compared to other mutations like exon 19 deletion.
  • The findings suggest that patients with L858R mutations may benefit more from ICI treatment following EGFR-TKI therapy, indicating their potential as suitable candidates for this type of treatment.
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Lung cancer is one of the most aggressive tumour types. Targeted therapies stratified by oncogenic drivers have substantially improved therapeutic outcomes in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, such oncogenic drivers are not found in 25-40% of cases of lung adenocarcinoma, the most common histological subtype of NSCLC.

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Background: Osimertinib is effective in patients with T790M mutation-positive advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) resistant to epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs). However, its effectiveness and safety in patients with poor performance status (PS) are unknown.

Methods: Enrolled patients showed disease progression after treatment with gefitinib, erlotinib, or afatinib; T790M mutation; stage IIIB, IV, or recurrent disease; and PS of 2-4.

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