Ayse Baha

Vitamin D deficiency: What does it mean for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)? a compherensive review for pulmonologists

Vitamin D deficiency and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) are both under‐recognized health problems, world‐wide. Although Vitamin D has long been known for calcemic effects it also has less known noncalcemic effects. Recent data have shown that Vitamin D deficiency is highly prevalent in patients with COPD and correlates with forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) and FEV1 decline. The objective of this work was to review the current literature on vitamin D deficiency in relation with COPD.

A Case of Sarcoidosis Associated With Anti–Tumor Necrosis Factor Treatment

Sarcoidosis is a systemic chronic granulomatous disease of unknown etiology. It predominantly involves the lungs but can affect many organs or tissues in the body, such as the lymphatic system, skin, eyes, and liver. Typical histopathological lesions are noncaseating granulomas in the affected organ or tissue. Indications, type of treatment, and duration of sarcoidosis treatment is currently debated. Despite studies showing that anti–tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) treatment can successfully be used in refractory sarcoidosis, there are some case reports regarding the development of sarcoidosis with these agents. There have been reports of 47 anti-TNF-associated cases of sarcoidosis until 2012. The patient is a 54-year-old Caucasian male. During routine examinations of the patient who had been followed for psoriasis vulgaris for 20 years and who had been on several anti-TNF regimens thereafter, new pulmonary pathologies due to sarcoidosis were detected. We present here a case of sarcoidosis that developed after infliximab treatment and showed obvious radiologic regression with discontinuation of treatment. During anti-TNF treatment, it should be kept in mind that autoimmune and granulomatous diseases may develop and particular care should be given to patient follow-ups.

18F-FDG uptake in focal organising pneumonia mimicking bronchial carcinoma

Organising pneumonia (OP) is not a well‐known cause of increased 18F‐FDG uptake, and the relationship of the increased 18F‐FDG uptake to clinical parameters has not been clearly identified. This study aims to assess the role of positron emission tomography–computed tomography (PET‐CT) for the diagnosis of focal organised pneumonia that may mimic malignity because of mass‐like lesions on the radiological images it causes.

Comparison of Single Agent Gemcitabine and Docetaxel in Second-Line Therapy for Advanced Stage Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer in a University Hospital in Turkey

PURPOSE To compare the efficacy and toxicity of gemcitabine versus docetaxel in a second-line setting of nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients previously treated with platin-based combination chemotherapy. MATERIALS AND METHODS We retrospectively evaluated the medical records of 57 patients treated with single agent gemcitabine or docetaxel in second-line setting of advanced NSCLC who received one prior platinum-based therapy. RESULTS The mean age was 56.7 ± 8.39 years with 55 ( 96.5%) males and two (3.5%) females. Forty of them received docetaxel and 17 gemcitabine. The mean number of chemotherapy cycles was 6.8 ± 4.0 in the gemcitabine group, while it was 4.6 ± 3.0 in the docetaxel group. Overall response rates were 8% and 12% (P=0.02) for gemcitabine and docetaxel, respectively. The median survival time was 22 versus 21 months for gemcitabine and docetaxel, respectively. The median times to progression were 8 and 5 months. There was no difference between the two groups in terms of incidence of adverse affects (40% vs 47.1%). All of the hematological side effects were grade 1/2. No major toxicity was encountered necessitating stopping the drug for either group. CONCLUSIONS Treatment with gemcitabine demonstrated clinically equivalent efficacy with a significantly improved safety profile compared with those receiving docetaxel in the second-line setting for advanced NSCLC in this study. Based on these results, treatment with gemcitabine should be considered a standard treatment option for second-line NSCLC.