Summary Background The objective of this prospective study was to evaluate whether soluble programmed cell death-1/programmed cell death-ligand 1 (PD-1/PD-L1) and serum amyloid A1 (SAA1) are potential diagnostic, predictive or prognostic biomarkers in lung cancer. Methods Lung cancer patients (n=115) with advanced metastatic disease, 101 with non-small cell lung cancer, NSCLC (77 EGFR wild-type NSCLC patients on chemotherapy, 15 EGFR mutation positive adenocarcinoma patients, 9 patients with mPD-L1 Expression ≥50% NSCLC – responders to immunotherapy), and 14 patients with small cell lung cancer (SCLC) were examined. ELISA method was used to determine sPD-L1 and SAA1 concentrations in patients’ plasma. Results Significantly higher blood concentrations of sPD-L1 and SAA1 were noted in lung cancer patients compared with a healthy control group. In PD-L1+ NSCLC patients, a significantly higher sPD-L1 level was noticed compared to any other lung cancer subgroup, as well as the highest average SAA1 value compared to other subgroups. Conclusions It seems that sPD-1/PD-L1 might be a potential biomarker, prognostic and/ or predictive, particularly in patients treated with immunotherapy. Serum amyloid A1 has potential to act as a good predictor of patients’ survival, as well as a biomarker of a more advanced disease, with possibly good capability to predict the course of disease measured at different time points.

EBTB was more frequent among men, and among people in their fifties in our country. Detailed bronchoscopic examination, correlated with clinical and laboratory findings, will improve diagnostic rate and provide timely therapy.

Background/Aim. Early treatment failure (ETF) in patients hospitalized for community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is associated with prolonged hospitalization, increased risk of mortality and high treatment costs. The aim of this study was to analyze the relative importance of factors influencing ETF in hospitalized adult patients with CAP that are still insufficiently explored. Methods. A retrospective case-control study was carried out on a sample of 126 adult patients treated for serious CAP at the Clinic for Pulmonary Diseases, Clinical Center of Serbia, Belgrade, Serbia, during the 5-year period (2007-2011). The cases (n = 63) were consecutive patients with ETF, observed within the three days upon the admission to hospital, while the control group consisted of the equal number of randomly selected patients without such an outcome. The association between potential risk/protective factors and ETF was estimated using logistic regression analysis. Results. The coexistence of gastrointestinal disorders [adjusted odds ratio (OR) 18.83, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.15-309.04], higher CURB-65 (C-confusion; U-urea 7 mmol/L; R-respiratory rate ≥ 30 breaths/min; B-systolic blood pressure < 90 mmHg or diastolic blood pressure ≤ 60 mmHg; 65-age ≥ 65 years) score on admission (adjusted OR 2.57, 95%CI 1.05-6.25), initial use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) in hospital (adjusted OR 38.19, 95%CI 3.61-404.51) and previous outpatient use of inhaled corticosteroids (adjusted OR 22.41, 95%CI 1.03-489.06) were found to be significant risk factors for ETF. On the other hand, older age and use of antibiotics before the hospitalization were associated with a significantly lower chance of experiencing ETF, reducing the odds for 98% and almost 90%, respectively. Conclusion. The avoidance of the routine in-hospital use of NSAIDs as well as the outpatient use of appropriate antibiotics may be beneficial for patients hospitalized for CAP in terms of reducing the risk of ETF. The CURB-65 score could be a better predictor of ETF than Pneumonia Severity Index. Further prospective studies are required to confirm these findings.

The presented patient is a rare case of pleural involvement of sarcoidosis with massive effusion, who responded well to the treatment.

Background Patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) frequently have multiple comorbidities, which may influence survival but go under-recognised in clinical practice. We therefore report comorbidity, antifibrotic treatment use and survival of patients with IPF observed in the multi-national EMPIRE registry. Methods For this prospective IPF cohort, demographics, comorbidities, survival and causes of death were analysed. Comorbidities were noted by the treating physician based on the patient’s past medical history or as reported during follow-up. Comorbidities were defined as prevalent when noted at enrolment, or as incident when recorded during follow-up. Survival was analysed by Kaplan–Meier estimates, log-rank test, and Cox proportional hazards models. Hazard ratios (HR) were adjusted for gender, age, smoking status and FVC at enrolment. Results A population of 3,580 patients with IPF from 11 Central and Eastern European countries was followed every 6 months for up to 6 years. At enrolment, 91.3% of patients reported at least one comorbidity, whereas more than one-third (37.8%) reported four or more comorbidities. Five-year survival was 53.7% in patients with no prevalent comorbidities, whereas it was 48.4%, 47.0%, 43.8% and 41.1% in patients with 1, 2, 3 and ≥ 4 comorbidities, respectively. The presence of multiple comorbidities at enrolment was associated with significantly worse survival (log-rank test P = 0.007). Adjusted HRs indicate that risk of death was increased by 44% in patients with IPF reporting ≥ 4 comorbidities at baseline compared with no comorbidity (P = 0.021). The relationship between number of comorbidities and decreased survival was also seen in patients receiving antifibrotic treatment (63% of all patients; log-rank test P < 0.001). Comorbidity as cause of death was identified in at least 26.1% of deaths. Conclusions The majority of patients with IPF demonstrate comorbidities, and many have comorbidity-related deaths. Increasing numbers of comorbidities are associated with worse survival; and this pattern is also present in patients receiving antifibrotic therapy.