Although adenocarcinoma (ADC) is the most frequent lung cancer, its diagnosis is often late, when the local invasion is important and/or the metastases have already appeared. Therefore, the mortality at 5 years is still very high, ranging from 51% to 99%, depending on the stage. The implementation of different molecular techniques has allowed genomic studies even in relatively small histological samples such as obtained with non-invasive or minimally invasive techniques, facilitating a better phenotyping of lung ADC. Thus, current classification differentiates between preinvasive lesions (atypical adenomatous hyperplasia and in situ ADC), minimally invasive ADC (MIA) and invasive ADC. 'Field cancerization' is a concept that refers to progressive loco-regional changes occurring in tissues exposed to carcinogens, due to the interaction of the latter with a predisposing genetic background and an appropriate tissue microenvironment. Somatic genetic alterations, including mutations but also other changes, are necessary for oncogenesis, being especially frequent in lung ADC. Changes in the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene, Kirsten rat sarcoma viral oncogene (KRAS), v-Raf murine sarcoma viral oncogene homolog B (BRAF), gene encoding neurofibromin (NF1), anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) and ROS1 are the main genes that suffer alterations in the tumors of patients with ADC. Molecular profiling of these tumors allows more targeted treatments through two distinct strategies, genome-guided therapy and immunotherapy. The former, targets the aberrant pathways secondary to the genomic alteration, whereas the latter may be based on the administration of antibodies [such as those against cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen 4 (CTLA-4) or the programmed cell death ligand 1/protein 1 pathway (PD-L1/PD-1)] or the stimulation of the patient's own immune system to produce a specific response. These strategies are obtaining better results in selected ADC patients.

Nutritional abnormalities are frequent in different chronic respiratory diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), bronchiectasis, cystic fibrosis (CF), interstitial fibrosis and lung cancer, having important clinical consequences. However, nutritional abnormalities often remained underdiagnosed due to the relative lack of awareness of health professionals. Therefore, systematic anthropometry or even better, assessment of body composition, should be performed in all patients with chronic respiratory conditions, especially following exacerbation periods when malnutrition becomes more accentuated. Nutritional abnormalities very often include the loss of muscle mass, which is an important factor for the occurrence of muscle dysfunction. The latter can be easily detected with the specific assessment of muscle strength and endurance, and also negatively influences patients’ quality of life and prognosis. Both nutritional abnormalities and muscle dysfunction result from the interaction of several factors, including tobacco smoking, low physical activity-sedentarism, systemic inflammation and the imbalance between energy supply and requirements, which essentially lead to a negative balance between protein breakdown and synthesis. Therapeutic approaches include improvements in lifestyle, nutritional supplementation and training. Anabolic drugs may be administered in some cases.

Tumor recurrence is frequent and survival rates remain extremely low in lung adenocarcinoma (ADC). We hypothesize that carcinogenic factors will promote loco-regional modifications not only in the future tumor, but throughout the exposed lung. Objective: To analyze whether the most prevalent mutations observed in ADC can also be observed in the non-neoplastic lung tissue, as well as the short-term prognosis implications of this finding. Methods: Non-tumoral lung parenchyma specimens obtained during surgery from 47 patients with EGFR and/or KRAS abnormalities in their ADC tumors underwent similar genomic testing. Short-term outcomes were also recorded. Results: The same mutations were present in the tumor and the histologically normal tissue in 21.3% of patients (SM group). Although local recurrences were similar in both groups, distant metastases were more frequent in the former (60 vs. 5.4%, p < 0.001). Moreover, SM patients showed lower time-to-progression (8.5 vs. 11.7 months, p < 0.001) and disease-free survival (8.5 vs. 11.2 months, p < 0.001). COX regression showed a higher risk of progression or death (DFS) in the SM group (HR 5.94, p < 0.01]. Similar results were observed when adjusting for potential confounding variables. Conclusions: These results confirm that genetic changes are present in the apparently normal lung in many ADC patients, and this finding has prognostic implications.

Background: Hypercapnic encephalopathy is relatively frequent in severe exacerbations of COPD (ECOPDs), with its intensity usually being evaluated through clinical scales. Bispectral index (BIS) is a relatively new technique, based on the analysis of the electroencephalographic signal, which provides a good approximation to the level of consciousness, having already been validated in anesthesia. Objective: The objective of the study was to evaluate the utility of BIS in the assessment of the intensity of hypercapnic encephalopathy in ECOPD patients. Patients and methods: A total of ten ECOPD patients were included, and the level of brain activity was assessed using BIS and different scales: Glasgow Coma Scale, Ramsay Sedation Scale (RSS), and Richmond Agitation–Sedation Scale. The evaluation was performed both in the acute phase and 3 months after discharge. Results: BIS was recorded for a total of about 600 minutes. During ECOPD, BIS values ranged from 58.8 (95% CI: 48.6–69) for RSS score of 4 to 92.2 (95% CI: 90.1–94.3) for RSS score of 2. A significant correlation was observed between values obtained with BIS and those from the three scales, although the best fit was for RSS, followed by Glasgow and Richmond (r=-0.757, r=0.701, and r=0.615, respectively; P<0.001 for all). In the stable phase after discharge, BIS showed values considered as normal for a wake state (94.6; 95% CI: 91.7–97.9). Conclusion: BIS may be useful for the objective early detection and automatic monitoring of the intensity of hypercapnic encephalopathy in ECOPD, facilitating the early detection and follow-up of this condition, which may avoid management problems in these patients.