Expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-C and that of its receptors were assessed in non-small cell lung cancer. Immunohistochemistry revealed positive VEGF-C expression in 38.7% (24/62) of the patients studied. A significant positive correlation was found between VEGF-C in cancer cells and VEGF receptor-3 (VEGFR-3) in vascular endothelial cells, but not between VEGF-C in cancer cells and VEGFR-2 in endothelial cells. In this cohort of lung cancer patients, VEGF-C expression was significantly associated with lymph node metastasis, lymphatic vessel invasion, and worse outcomes after the operation. Although the independent prognostic impact of VEGF-C and VEGFR-3 was not clear, VEGFR-2 expression in endothelial cells retained the independency as the prognostic indicator. In light of these findings, we conclude that VEGF-C plays an important role in lymphatic invasion/metastasis and tumour progression in non-small cell lung cancer. © 2001 Cancer Research Campaign http://www.bjcancer.com

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The m-CT value of GGO lesions is a risk factor associated with their future change. The interval of follow-up CT scanning or treatment policy should be determined considering the m-CT value.

BackgroundThe current trend in thoracoscopic surgery is to use fewer ports to decrease postoperative pain, chest wall paresthesia, and duration of hospital stay. In this study we compared the results of our current experience with single-incision thoracoscopic surgery (SITS) and conventional three-port video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (3P-VATS).MethodsFrom October 2011 to August 2012, 37 consecutive patients underwent thoracoscopic surgery. This is a non-randomized retrospective study. Among these patients, 19 (SITS group) were treated using single port method (SITS), whereas 18 (3P-VATS group) were treated using the conventional three-port methods (3P-VATS). The surgical duration, number of resected lesions, duration of chest drainage, duration of hospital stay, inpatient pain scores, and patient satisfaction scores were compared between both groups.ResultsThe mean age at surgery, indication, gender, body mass index, and the side involved were similar in both groups. The procedures performed in the SITS group were similar to those performed in the 3P-VATS group. The mean operative time was longer in the SITS group compared with the 3P-VATS group. Duration of postoperative drainage days and hospital stay was shorter in the SITS group compared with the 3P-VATS group, although these differences were not statistically significant. Pain scores on postoperative days 0,1, and 3 were significantly higher in patients who underwent 3P-VATS compared with those who underwent SITS (p = 0.012, 0.039, and 0.037, respectively). The SITS group reported higher patient satisfaction scores than the 3P-VATS group, patients in the 3P-VATS group tended to receive higher total doses of analgesics (NSAIDs) after surgery compared with those in the SITS group, although these differences were not statistically significant.ConclusionsOur experience demonstrated that SITS decreased postoperative pain and resulted in higher patient satisfaction compared with the conventional three-port VATS. However, a prospective, randomized study is needed to confirm our preliminary findings. To overcome the technological limitations of SITS, the development of new instruments is needed.

Nonthermal plasma technologies offer an innovative approach to the problem of decomposing various volatile organic compounds (VOC's). We focused on dc capillary tube discharge plasma reactors to study the decomposition/destruction efficiency for toluene, EGM, trichloroethane, and trichlroethylene at 50-2300-ppm levels in dry air. The effects of gas flow rate, VOC concentration, and reactor operating conditions on decomposition and analysis of reactant conversion for each VOC were investigated. The results show that VOC destruction efficiency as high as 90% can be achieved, even under a short residence time (3.8 ms) with a destruction energy efficiency of up to 95 g (VOC)/kWh. Laboratory-scale plasma technology was successfully demonstrated for its potential application for VOC control in the semiconductor clean-room environment.