A protein with a role in sensing cell damage and viral infections is a new target for the treatment of pulmonary hypertension, or increased blood pressure in the lungs, according to research led by Virginia Commonwealth University and the University of Sheffield in the United Kingdom.
Scientists at the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center have identified sodium glucose transporter 2, or SGLT2, as a mechanism that lung cancer cells use to obtain glucose, which is key to their survival and promotes tumor growth. The finding provides evidence that SGLT2 may be a novel biomarker that scientists can use to help diagnose precancerous lung lesions and early-stage lung cancers.
The HER2 gene is a well-known driver of breast cancer, where changes in this gene are found in about 1-in-5 cases of the disease. HER2 also contributes to about 3 percent of lung cancers, representing about 6,500 patients per year. But while drugs like trastuzumab and lapatinib have proven effective in silencing the action of HER2 in breast cancer, there are currently no approved HER2-targeted therapies for the treatment of lung cancer.
Only a tiny fraction of patients hospitalized for COPD, or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, participate in a pulmonary rehabilitation program following hospitalization, even though such programs are recommended and Medicare covers their cost, according to new research published online in the Annals of the American Thoracic Society.
Valerie Chang kept waking up breathless in the middle of the night. As a regular swimmer and non-smoker, she figured it was a fluke, a remnant of her childhood asthma, perhaps. But after a lung test, doctors told her that she had the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD); her lung function was only 30% and she had done irreversible damage to her lungs. Unfortunately, they said, there was nothing they could do to improve her lung function, and she would likely need a transplant in a year.
An international research team led by members of the University of Colorado School of Medicine faculty has identified a genetic connection between rheumatoid arthritis-associated interstitial lung disease and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. The findings are published in the current issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
Pfizer Inc. announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved LORBRENA [lor-BREN-ah] (lorlatinib), a third-generation anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) for patients with ALK-positive metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose disease has progressed on crizotinib and at least one other ALK inhibitor for metastatic disease; or whose disease has progressed on alectinib or ceritinib as the first ALK inhibitor therapy for metastatic disease.
Almost half of the nearly 10 million patients with active tuberculosis each year could have been cured with lesser treatments than current guidelines, UC San Francisco has found. The results suggest targeted therapies could be more effective in treating TB, which killed an estimated 1.3 million people around the world last year.
Neoadjuvant erlotinib benefits selected epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) -mutated patients who undergo complete resection of stage IIIA-N2 stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), shows a randomized study comparing erlotinib with gemcitabine plus cisplatin as neoadjuvant treatment, presented at the ESMO 2018 Congress in Munich.
Most people with lung cancer are unaware of the benefits of regular exercise, yet new data show it can significantly reduce fatigue and improve well being. Results of two studies to be presented at the ESMO 2018 Congress in Munich underline the value of exercise, including in patients with advanced or metastatic lung cancer.
The InforMing the PAthway of COPD Treatment (IMPACT) study was conducted to assess the benefits of triple versus dual therapy in patients with COPD. In a study at CHEST, researchers found that regardless of baseline reversibility, the usage of triple dual therapies significantly reduced the annual rate and moderate-to-severe and severe exacerbations, improved lung function and overall quality of life in patients.
Smoking-related lung cancer rates are expected to drop dramatically over the next 50 years, but lung cancer will continue to be a significant health problem in the United States, says University of Michigan researcher. The study was published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.