MG exposure significantly increases the long-term risk of death from respiratory cancer and chronic bronchitis/emphysema. The Okuno-jima MG Index may be a useful indicator for estimating cumulative MG exposure.

Three cases are reported who received brachytherapy with external irradiation for inoperable lung cancer and have shown long-term remission. The diseases were adenoid cystic carcinoma, recurrent adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma. The associated symptoms were severe cough and dyspnea in all 3 cases. They received 60 Gy of external irradiation. After an interval of 2 weeks, 6 Gy at a radius of 1 cm from the center of the source was delivered by iridium-192. They received 2–4 fractions at 1-week intervals. On termination of brachytherapy, complete response was observed in all cases. In 1 case, bronchial stenosis due to radiation-induced fibrosis was observed, but was successfully treated by bronchial stent. Cough and dyspnea disappeared, and all patients have been rendered asymptomatic for the last 2 years. Local disease was well controlled in 2 cases; however, minimal local recurrence was observed after a 2-year follow-up in 1 case.

Introduction/Background: Chemoradiotherapy (CRT) followed by durvalumab, an immune checkpoint inhibitor, is the standard treatment for locally advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Interstitial lung disease (ILD) is a life-threatening toxicity caused by these treatments; however, risk factors for the ILD have not yet been established. Interstitial lung abnormalities (ILAs) are computed tomography (CT) findings which manifest as minor interstitial shadows. We aimed to investigate whether ILAs could be risk factors for grade-two or higher ILD during durvalumab therapy. Patients and Methods: Patients with NSCLC who received durvalumab after CRT from July 2018 to June 2021 were retrospectively enrolled. We obtained patient characteristics, laboratory data, radiotherapeutic parameters, and chest CT findings before durvalumab therapy. Results: A total of 148 patients were enrolled. The prevalence of ILAs before durvalumab treatment was 37.8%. Among 148 patients, 63.5% developed ILD during durvalumab therapy. The proportion of patients with grade-two or higher ILD was 33.8%. The univariate logistic regression analysis revealed that older age, high dose-volume histogram parameters, and the presence of ILAs were significant risk factors for grade-two or higher ILD. The multivariate analysis showed that ILAs were independent risk factors for grade-two or higher ILD (odds ratio, 3.70; 95% confidence interval, 1.69–7.72; p < 0.001). Conclusions: We showed that pre-existing ILAs are risk factors for ILD during durvalumab treatment after CRT. We should pay attention to the development of grade-two or higher ILD during durvalumab treatment in patients with ILAs.

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e21536 Background: The standard treatment for locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is chemoradiotherapy (CRT) followed by anti-programmed cell death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) drug therapy. BIM deletion induces apoptosis suppression and the effect of epidermal growth factor-tyrosine kinase inhibitor is reportedly attenuated in EGFR-mutated NSCLC patients with BIM deletion. This study retrospectively examined the effects of BIM deletion on CRT or PD-1 treatment in patients with NSCLC. Methods: Among patients with unresectable NSCLC at Higashi-Hiroshima Medical Center and Hiroshima University Hospital between April 1994 and April 2018, we enrolled those treated with CRT or chemotherapy using carboplatin + paclitaxel or cisplatin + vinorelbine, or PD-1 antibody treatment. Results: Of 1,224 patients with unresectable NSCLC, 88, 80, and 79 underwent CRT, chemotherapy, or PD-1 antibody treatments, respectively. Within these treatment groups, 15 (17%), 15 (19%) and 11 (14%) patients, respectively, had BIM deletion. Among patients receiving CRT, the progression-free survival and overall survival were significantly shorter in those with BIM deletion than in those without (150 vs. 254 days, p = 0.003; 429 vs. 710 days, p = 0.03). Moreover, multivariate Cox regression analysis showed BIM deletion to be an independent factor for anti-tumor effect or prognosis (hazard ratio [95% confidence interval] 2.042, [1.112–4.039], p = 0.029; 2.414, [1.063–4.984], p = 0.036). These results were not observed in the chemotherapy and PD-1 treatment groups. To confirm the association between radiation therapy effect and BIM deletion, we performed in vitro experiments using two NSCLC cell lines (A549 and EBC-1). Suppressed BIM expression using siRNA (instead of BIM deletion) in these cells showed significantly suppressed antitumor effect and apoptosis 48 hours after 30-Gy irradiation but not chemotherapy. Conclusions: We showed that BIM deletion is an independent anti-tumor effect or prognostic factor for CRT. The results also indicated that BIM deletion was associated with the effects of radiation but not chemotherapy or PD-1 antibody treatment.