Lung cancer outcome evaluation

Adverse effects associated with multiple chemical exposures associated with rocket testing at a commercial defense test facility. This study evaluated the excess mortality of workers employed at a rocket test site over a period beginning in the 1950s. Excess lung cancer was identified in this cohort of workers and their health outcomes were possibly associated with exposure to hydrazines, nitrosamines, asbestos, trichloroethylene, and other chemicals. 

Maddau and coworkers °° used immunohistochemical detection to evaluate the expression of p53 and Ki-67 in non-small cell lung cancer. They found that overexpression of p53 was associated with a signih-cantly worse patient outcome in stage I disease, whereas no excess risk was evident in stages II and III disease. The same pattern was observed with Ki-67 expression. The authors found that excess risk in stage I cases with p53 and Ki-67 overexpression was observed only in adenocarcinoma. 

PET could improve the delineation of GTV in some tumor entities like brain tumors, lung cancer, and head and neck cancer. Therefore, its impact on the clinical outcome has to be evaluated in prospective trials. The role of PET for the visualization of tumor biology is unclear. However, this approach could open new perspectives in treatment planning and monitoring of solid tumors and has to be assessed in the future in experimental and clinical studies. 

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