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Purpose Performing a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess the evidence of intra-arterial therapies in liver metastatic breast cancer (LMBC) patients. Methods A systemic literature search was performed in PubMed, EMBASE, SCOPUS for studies regarding intra-arterial therapies in LMBC patients. Full text studies of LMBC patients (n >= 10) published between January 2010 and December 2020 were included when at least one outcome among response rate, adverse events or survival was available. Response rates were pooled using generalized linear mixed models. A weighted estimate of the population median overall survival (OS) was obtained under the assumption of exponentially distributed survival times. Results A total of 26 studies (1266 patients) were included. Eleven articles reported on transarterial radioembolization (TARE), ten on transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) and four on chemo-infusion. One retrospective study compared TARE and TACE. Pooled response rates were 49% for TARE (95%CI 32-67%), 34% for TACE (95%CI 22-50%) and 19% for chemo-infusion (95%CI 14-25%). Pooled median survival was 9.2 months (range 6.1-35.4 months) for TARE, 17.8 months (range 4.6-47.0) for TACE and 7.9 months (range 7.0-14.2) for chemo-infusion. No comparison for OS was possible due to missing survival rates at specific time points (1 and 2 year OS) and the large heterogeneity. Conclusion Although results have to be interpreted with caution due to the large heterogeneity, the superior response rate of TARE and TACE compared to chemo-infusion suggests first choice of TARE or TACE in chemorefractory LMBC patients. Chemo-infusion could be considered in LMBC patients not suitable for TARE or TACE.

OBJECTIVE Decisions in glioblastoma surgery are often guided by presumed eloquence of the tumor location. The authors introduce the “expected residual tumor volume” (eRV) and the “expected resectability index” (eRI) based on previous decisions aggregated in resection probability maps. The diagnostic accuracy of eRV and eRI to predict biopsy decisions, resectability, functional outcome, and survival was determined. METHODS Consecutive patients with first-time glioblastoma surgery in 2012–2013 were included from 12 hospitals. The eRV was calculated from the preoperative MR images of each patient using a resection probability map, and the eRI was derived from the tumor volume. As reference, Sawaya’s tumor location eloquence grades (EGs) were classified. Resectability was measured as observed extent of resection (EOR) and residual volume, and functional outcome as change in Karnofsky Performance Scale score. Receiver operating characteristic curves and multivariable logistic regression were applied. RESULTS Of 915 patients, 674 (74%) underwent a resection with a median EOR of 97%, functional improvement in 71 (8%), functional decline in 78 (9%), and median survival of 12.8 months. The eRI and eRV identified biopsies and EORs of at least 80%, 90%, or 98% better than EG. The eRV and eRI predicted observed residual volumes under 10, 5, and 1 ml better than EG. The eRV, eRI, and EG had low diagnostic accuracy for functional outcome changes. Higher eRV and lower eRI were strongly associated with shorter survival, independent of known prognostic factors. CONCLUSIONS The eRV and eRI predict biopsy decisions, resectability, and survival better than eloquence grading and may be useful preoperative indices to support surgical decisions.

The neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is used as biomarker in malignant diseases showing significant association with poor oncological outcomes. The main research question of the present study was whether NLR has also prognostic value in cholangiocarcinoma patients (CCA). A systematic review was carried out to identify studies related to NLR and clinical outcomes in CCA evaluating the literature from 01/2000 to 09/2021. A random-effects model, pooled hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were used to investigate the statistical association between NLR and overall survival (OS) as well as disease-free survival (DFS). Subgroup analyses, evaluation of sensitivity and risk of bias were further carried out. 32 studies comprising 8572 patients were eligible for this systematic review and meta-analysis. The pooled outcomes revealed that high NLR prior to treatment is prognostic for poor OS (HR 1.28, 95% CI 1.18-1.38, p < 0.01) and DFS (HR 1.39, 95% CI 1.17-1.66, p < 0.01) with meaningful HR values. Subgroup analysis revealed that this association is not significantly affected by the treatment modality (surgical vs. non-surgical), NLR cut-off values, age and sample size of the included studies. Given the likelihood of NLR to be prognostic for reduced OS and DFS, pre-treatment NLR might serve as a useful biomarker for poor prognosis in patients with CCA and therefore facilitate clinical management.

Objective: To evaluate the strongest prognostic factors in advanced gastric cancer. Study Design: Observational study. Place and Duration of Study: Department of Medical Oncology, Tekirdag Namik Kemal University, Tekirdag, Turkey, between March 2012 and April 2022. Methodology: Adult patients with metastatic cancer who had completed at least two months of chemotherapy, without any other comorbidity were included. Using Kaplan-Meier methodology and Cox regression methods, potential prognostic factors were analysed for overall survival. Two different models were created for multivariate analysis by using statistically significant factors in univariate analysis. Results: The median overall survival in 216 patients was 7.8 months. The univariate analysis showed that body-mass index, performance status, liver metastasis, albumin, gamma-glutamyl transferase, carcinoembryonic antigen, carbohydrate antigen (CA 19-9), neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), systemic immune-inflammation index, albumin-to-alkaline phosphatase ratio, sodium-globulin ratio (SGR) prognostic nutritional index (PNI), albumin-bilirubin ratio, and albumin-globulin ratio were associated with survival. In Model 1, which included only laboratory indices, multivariate analyses revealed that NLR (p= 0.001), SGR (p=0.025), and PNI (p=0.032) were prognostic for overall survival. In Model 2, established with all parameters, NLR (p=0.003), albumin (p=0.003), performance status (p

The ionic liquid (IL) modified chemically activated (CA) pencil graphite electrodes (PGEs) were developed for label-free voltammetric detection of miRNA-34a, and implemented to the real samples. Firstly, the electrochemical characterization of unmodified PGE, CA-PGE, IL-PGE and IL-CA-PGE was performed by cyclic voltammetry (CV) as well as their DNA binding capacity was studied by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) technique. The microscopic characterization of the surface of each electrodes was investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) technique was used for measuring the oxidation signal of guanine in order to perform a label-free voltammetric monitoring of a full-match hybridization specific to miRNA-34a. The selectivity of biosensor was tested against to miRNA-155, miRNA-660 as well as to the mismatch sequence of miRNA-34a. The further selectivity of this proposed biosensor was studied in the mixture of samples containing miRNA-34a with other miRNAs (1 : 1). The voltammetric detection of miRNA-34a was also explored in the artificial serum medium as fetal bovine serum (FBS) and also in total RNA samples isolated from HUH-7 human hepatocellular carcinoma cell line. © 2019 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim, Türkiye Bilimler Akademisi, A.E. would like to express her gratitude to the Turkish Academy of Sciences (TUBA) as a Principal member for its partial support.

Objectives: We aimed to examine the association between total number of resected nodes and survival in patients after esophagectomy with and without nCRT.Background: Most studies concerning the potentially positive effect of extended lymphadenectomy on survival have been performed in patients who underwent surgery alone. As nCRT is known to frequently "sterilize" regional nodes, it is unclear whether extended lymphadenectomy after nCRT is still useful. Methods: Patients from the randomized CROSS-trial who completed the entire protocol (ie, surgery alone or chemoradiotherapy + surgery) were included. With Cox regression models, we compared the impact of number of resected nodes as well as resected positive nodes on survival in both groups.Results:One hundred sixty-one patients underwent surgery alone, and 159 patients received multimodality treatment. The median (interquartile range) number of resected nodes was 18 (12-27) and 14 (9-21), with 2 (1-6) and 0 (0-1) resected positive nodes, respectively. Persistent lymph node positivity after nCRT had a greater negative prognostic impact on survival as compared with lymph node positivity after surgery alone. The total number of resected nodes was significantly associated with survival for patients in the surgeryalone arm (hazard ratio per 10 additionally resected nodes, 0.76; P = 0.007), but not in the multimodality arm (hazard ratio 1.00; P = 0.98). Conclusions: The number of resected nodes had a prognostic impact on survival in patients after surgery alone, but its therapeutic value is still controversial. After nCRT, the number of resected nodes was not associated with survival. These data question the indication for maximization of lymphadenectomy after nCRT.

SummaryBackground Intermediate-stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), for which trans-arterial chemoembolization (TACE) constitutes the standard of care, is a patient subgroup with significant heterogeneity in clinical outcome. Sources of variation relate to differences in tumour burden, hepatic reserve, ethnicity and treatment modalities. Increasing research efforts have been dedicated to minimise the clinical diversity of this patient population and enhance optimal provision of treatment. Aim To comprehensively review the diverse prognostic models that have been proposed to refine the prognostic prediction of patients with HCC undergoing TACE. Results A number of prognostic algorithms (HAP, ART, ABCR score and many others) have shown potential to address the clinical heterogeneity characterising patients with intermediate-stage HCC and facilitate early identification of patients with poor prognostic features in whom alternative treatments or best supportive care might be more appropriate than TACE. Conclusions While an improved characterisation of intermediate-stage HCC is a highly important clinical aim, current evidence suggests that novel prognostic algorithms in this patient population may offer potential benefits but non-negligible challenges in the provision of TACE. This review summarises the currently available evidence to facilitate the development of precision oncology in intermediate-stage HCC.

Introduction The neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is a biological marker that has been shown to be associated with outcomes in patients with a number of different malignancies. The objective of this study was to assess the relationship between NLR and mortality in a population of adult critically ill patients. Methods We performed an observational cohort study of unselected intensive care unit (ICU) patients based on records in a large clinical database. We computed individual patient NLR and categorized patients by quartile of this ratio. The association of NLR quartiles and 28-day mortality was assessed using multivariable logistic regression. Secondary outcomes included mortality in the ICU, in-hospital mortality and 1-year mortality. An a priori subgroup analysis of patients with versus without sepsis was performed to assess any differences in the relationship between the NLR and outcomes in these cohorts. Results A total of 5,056 patients were included. Their 28-day mortality rate was 19%. The median age of the cohort was 65 years, and 47% were female. The median NLR for the entire cohort was 8.9 (interquartile range, 4.99 to 16.21). Following multivariable adjustments, there was a stepwise increase in mortality with increasing quartiles of NLR (first quartile: reference category; second quartile odds ratio (OR) = 1.32; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.03 to 1.71; third quartile OR = 1.43; 95% CI, 1.12 to 1.83; 4th quartile OR = 1.71; 95% CI, 1.35 to 2.16). A similar stepwise relationship was identified in the subgroup of patients who presented without sepsis. The NLR was not associated with 28-day mortality in patients with sepsis. Increasing quartile of NLR was statistically significantly associated with secondary outcome. Conclusion The NLR is associated with outcomes in unselected critically ill patients. In patients with sepsis, there was no statistically significant relationship between NLR and mortality. Further investigation is required to increase understanding of the pathophysiology of this relationship and to validate these findings with data collected prospectively.

Background: At least 30% of patients with primary resectable non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) will experience a relapse in their disease within 5 years following definitive treatment. Clinicopathological predictors have proved to be suboptimal in identifying high-risk patients. We aimed to establish whether inflammation-based scores offer an improved prognostic ability in terms of estimating overall (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) in a cohort of operable, early-stage NSCLC patients. Methods: Clinicopathological, demographic and treatment data were collected prospectively for 220 patients operated for primary NSCLC at the Hammersmith Hospital from 2004 to 2011. Pretreatment modified Glasgow Prognostic Score (mGPS), neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) were tested together with established prognostic factors in uni- and multivariate Cox regression analyses of OS and RFS. Results: Half of the patients were male, with a median age of 65. A total of 57% were classified as stage I with adenocarcinoma being the most prevalent subtype (60%). Univariate analyses of survival revealed stage (P

Approximately 100 hematologists and pathologists from Europe, the United States, and Canada participated in the workshop Biomarkers and Prognosis in Malignant Lymphomas, held in Mandelieu, France, April 11-13, 2008, under the leadership of Anton Hagenbeek, Randy Gascoyne, and Gilles Salles. International experts in the field (discussed herein) shared their experiences in exploring the role of a variety of biologic markers related to different types of non-Hodgkin lymphomas (follicular, diffuse large B-cell, mantle cell, and Burkitt lymphomas) as well as Hodgkin lymphoma. The final goal of this clinical research is to develop new biologic prognostic indices for these major subtypes of lymphoma. In recent years, various prognostic indices, mainly based on clinical characteristics of the patient at diagnosis, have served to determine the prognostic profile and to develop prognostic factor—based treatment strategies. However, it is now time to reconsider this based on the wealth of new biologic information directly related to lymphoma cells and the surrounding cells. In this workshop, organized by the European School of Hematology and the European Hematology Association, the latest developments on molecular pathogenesis, new biomarkers, and their relation to prognosis were extensively discussed. Herein, the major conclusions presented in the different sessions are summarized.