Alon Ben-Nun

Alon Ben-Nun
Sheba Medical Center | sheba · General Thoracic Surgery

About

42
Publications
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Publications

Publications (42)
Preprint
Full-text available
Background Borderline resectable stage III non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) poses significant clinical challenges. This study evaluated the outcomes of patients receiving neoadjuvant chemoradiation (NA-CRT), durvalumab, and surgery. Materials and Methods A retrospective analysis of an institutional database identified patients with borderline re...
Article
Full-text available
Objectives We hypothesized that driver mutations in epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) are associated with decreased pathologic response to neoadjuvant chemoradiation (NA-ChRT) in locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer (LA-NSCLC). Methods Patients with stage IIB-IIIA NSCLC treated with NA-ChRT, completion surgery, and underwent molecular...
Article
Background Neoadjuvant immune checkpoint inhibitor treatment is a promising approach for resectable cancer, including non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The characteristics of potential responders to such treatments and the molecular underlying events are not known. Methods We have conducted a phase I, investigator-initiated single-center study (M...
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Full-text available
Profiling tumor bacteria Bacteria are well-known residents in human tumors, but whether their presence is advantageous to the tumors or to the bacteria themselves has been unclear. As an initial step toward addressing this question, Nejman et al. produced an exhaustive catalog of the bacteria present in more than 1500 human tumors representing seve...
Article
Adoptive cell transfer (ACT) of tumor‐infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) mediates objective responses in 30% to 50% of patients with metastatic melanoma according to multiple, small phase 2 trials. Here we report the long‐term clinical results, intent‐to‐treat analysis, predictors of response and toxicity profile in a large patient cohort. A total of 1...
Article
Tumor–host interactions play a major role in malignancies' initiation and progression. We have reported in the past that tumor cells attenuate genotoxic stress–induced p53 activation in neighboring stromal cells. Herein, we aim to further elucidate cancer cells' impact on signaling within lung cancer stroma. Primary cancer-associated fibroblasts we...
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8534 Background: Resected NSCLC clinical stage I or II harbor a 5 year survival of only 30-50%. Immunotherapy might be more effective in low-burden disease. We hypothesized that neo-adjuvant immunotherapy is a feasible, safe and effective treatment (Tx) for early stage NSCLC. Methods: MK3475-223 is an ongoing phase I study of neoadjuvant pembrolizu...
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Full-text available
Objective: Intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) has better normal-tissue sparing compared with 3-dimensional conformal radiation (3DCRT). We sought to assess the impact of radiation technique on pathological and clinical outcomes in locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer (LANSCLC) treated with a trimodality strategy. Methods: Retrospecti...
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Full-text available
Adoptive cell therapy (ACT) of tumor infiltration lymphocytes (TIL) yields promising clinical results in metastatic melanoma patients, who failed standard treatments. Due to the fact that metastatic lung cancer has proven to be susceptible to immunotherapy and possesses a high mutation burden, which makes it responsive to T cell attack, we explored...
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Background: Neoadjuvant chemo-radiation therapy (CRT) dosages in locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) were traditionally limited to 45 Gray (Gy). Objectives: To retrospectively analyze outcomes of patients treated with 60 Gy CRT followed by surgery. Methods: A retrospective chart review identified patients selected for CRT to 60...
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Background Early detection of lung cancer (LC) has been well established as a significant key point in patient survival and prognosis. New highly sensitive nanoarray sensors for exhaled Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) have been developed and coupled with powerful statistical programs may be used when diseases such as LC are suspected. Detection o...
Article
PD1-PDL1 interaction is one mechanism of tumor evasion of the immune system, and inhibitors of this interaction can allow cancer cell killing by cytotoxic T cells. In NSCLC as well as in most other cancers, the clinical benefit from such inhibitors is far from universal; around 20% of tumors respond to this treatment. Response of tumors to anti-can...
Article
We describe the use of an electric trigger-controlled suction-lavage device for the evacuation of empyema or clotted hemothorax. Wound debridement systems provide efficient irrigation and debris removal. It is frequently used for orthopedic procedures or infected wound rinsing. Internet search of the literature did not result in any paper describin...
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Full-text available
Purpose: Adoptive cell transfer (ACT) using autologous tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) was reported to yield objective responses in about 50% of metastatic patients with melanoma. Here, we present the intent-to-treat analysis of TIL ACT and analyze parameters predictive to response as well as the impact of other immunotherapies. Experimental...
Article
Objectives: Patients with breast cancer following mastectomy and silicone implant reconstruction may have enlarged internal mammary lymph nodes with pathological uptake on positron emission tomography with (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose. This lymphadenopathy is usually considered as metastatic in nature, but has also been reported to be related to other...
Article
Recurrent spontaneous pneumothorax is widely treated by video-assisted thoracoscopic (VATS) bullectomy and pleurodesis. Treatment of postoperative pain with nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) is controversial as many surgeons believe that it reduces the efficacy of pleurodesis and increases the pneumothorax recurrence rate. In this retros...
Article
8510 Background: Treatment of metastatic melanoma patients with adoptively transferred Tumor Infiltrating Lymphocytes (TIL) has developed into an effective therapy. The use of unselected, short term cultured (young) TIL simplifies the laboratory production process. Our aim was to explore the effectiveness and toxicity of adoptive young TIL transfer...
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Full-text available
Hydatid cysts are usually located in the liver and lungs. Skeletal echinococcosis is relatively rare and that of the rib is exceptional. Less than 50 cases of costal echinococcosis have been reported in the literature so far. To our knowledge, only one case report of thoracic outlet syndrome due to echinococcal cyst in the first rib was described i...
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Full-text available
Adoptive cell therapy with autologous tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) has shown promising results in metastatic melanoma patients. Although objective response rates of over 50% have been reported, disadvantages of this approach are the labor-intensive TIL production and a very high drop-out rate of enrolled patients, limiting its widespread ap...
Article
Unlabelled: Recent evidence points to an association between experimental pain measures obtained preoperatively and acute postoperative pain (POP). We hypothesized that pain temporal summation (TS) might be an additional predictor for POP insofar as it represents the neuroplastic changes that occur in the central nervous system following surgery....
Article
Surgical and medical procedures, mainly those associated with nerve injuries, may lead to chronic persistent pain. Currently, one cannot predict which patients undergoing such procedures are 'at risk' to develop chronic pain. We hypothesized that the endogenous analgesia system is key to determining the pattern of handling noxious events, and there...
Article
Pleural effusion is a common problem, and various techniques of pleural fluid drainage have been described. We report our experience of using a Foley-type catheter to drain pleural effusion. After the injection of local anesthesia, the catheter is inserted, usually through the 7th intercostal space, with the patient sitting upright. The size of the...
Article
This study was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of low-volume interscalene brachial plexus block for post-thoracotomy ipsilateral shoulder pain and to compare it with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug treatment. Prospective nonblinded study. University hospital. Sixty adult patients. Patients who underwent elective thoracic surgery under co...
Article
The minitracheotomy tube is a useful tool in the prevention and management of sputum retention in postoperative and trauma patients. It may also be employed for short-term ventilatory support. The minitracheotomy tube is often inserted in conscious patients without secure airway, so even a minor complication might cause major respiratory deteriorat...
Article
A 5 1/2-year-old boy presented with repeated episodes of stridor and cough. Chest radiography demonstrated a widened mediastinum. Evaluation by CT revealed a low-density posterior mediastinal mass initially diagnosed as benign tumor. Histopathological analysis of the resected mass disclosed a malignant chordoma. Our radiological results are describ...
Article
Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) has gained an increasing importance as a diagnostic and therapeutic tool in chest trauma. Several studies have demonstrated its feasibility and safety, but only a few addressed the long-term benefit of VATS. The aim of this study was to evaluate the short-term and long-term benefits of VATS in chest traum...
Article
Symptomatic pleural effusion following ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunt insertion is very rare. We report our experience with three patients with VP shunt and massive pleural effusion. The three were seen multiple times in the emergency room before diagnoses were reached. Awareness of this possible complication may prevent futile surgical interventi...
Article
Patients with primary malignant disease undergoing oncological surveillance, upon completion of their treatment, are a unique population that is gradually growing. Therefore, the number of patients with a pulmonary nodule and a previous malignant disease has increased over recent years. In order to select appropriate management for these patients,...
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Full-text available
The aim of this study is to evaluate the short and long-term results of percutaneous tracheostomy in patients with documented cervical spine fracture. Between June 2000 and September 2005, 38 consecutive percutaneous tracheostomy procedures were performed on multi-trauma patients with cervical spine fracture. Modified Griggs technique was employed...
Article
A case of an actively bleeding mediastinal mass in a 4-year-old boy who sustained multitrauma is described. A computed tomography (CT) scan of the chest upon admission demonstrated a mediastinal mass, which enlarged significantly as seen by repeat CT scan at 3 days with a concomitant drop in serum hemoglobin levels. The lesion was excised, and path...
Article
Thyroidectomy for goiter is a common surgical procedure performed in most hospitals in Israel. Both general and ear, nose and throat surgeons are familiar with thyroidectomy for cervical goiters. In about 1-15% of thyroidectomies, the goiter is intrathoracic and requires somewhat different management. This topic has not been reviewed in the literat...
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The nondamaged latissimus dorsi and pectoralis major muscles are widely reported in the literature as being the most frequently used for chest wall reconstruction. In this study, we report a series of 9 patients with full-thickness chest wall defects who underwent reconstruction with previously damaged latissimus dorsi or pectoralis major muscles....
Article
In recent years, percutaneous tracheostomy has become a routine practice in many hospitals. In the early publications, most authors considered adverse conditions such as short, fat neck or obesity as relative contraindications whereas cervical injury, coagulopathy, and emergency were regarded as absolute contraindications. More recently, several re...
Article
The aim of this study was to assess the value of combined PET/CT compared with PET reviewed side-by-side with CT, in patients with oesophageal cancer, before and after surgery. Forty-one FDG PET/CT studies were performed in 32 patients with oesophageal cancer, before surgery (n = 18) or during follow-up after resection of the primary tumour (n = 23...
Article
The goal of this study was to assess the value of hybrid imaging using a combined PET/CT device with 18F-FDG in the diagnosis and clinical management of suspected recurrent lung cancer. Forty-two patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with suspected recurrence due to new clinical, biochemical, and radiologic findings were prospectively ev...
Article
In recent years, percutaneous tracheostomy (PCT) has become a routine practice in many hospitals. In the early publications, most authors considered adverse conditions such as short or fat neck or obesity as relative contraindications, whereas cervical injury and emergency were regarded as absolute contraindications. More recently, several reports...