Medicine
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The neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR), lymphocyte/monocyte ratio (LMR), and absolute lymphocyte count/absolute monocyte count prognostic score (ALC/AMC PS) have been described as the most useful prognostic tools for patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). We retrospectively analyzed 148 Taiwanese patients with newly diagnosed diffuse large B-cell lymphoma under rituximab (R)-CHOP-like regimens from January 2001 to December 2010 at the Tri-Service General Hospital and investigated the utility of these inexpensive tools in our patients. In a univariate analysis, the NLR, LMR, and ALC/AMC PS had significant prognostic value in our DLBCL patients (NLR: 5-year progression-free survival [PFS], P = 0.001; 5-year overall survival [OS], P = 0.007. LMR: PFS, P = 0.003; OS, P = 0.05. ⋯ PFS, P < 0.001; OS, P < 0.001). In a separate multivariate analysis, the ALC/AMC PS appeared to interact less with the other clinical factors but retained statistical significance in the survival analysis (PFS, P = 0.023; OS, P = 0.017). The akaike information criterion (AIC) analysis produced scores of 388.773 in the NLR, 387.625 in the LMR, and 372.574 in the ALC/AMC PS. The results suggested that the ALC/AMC PS appears to be more reliable than the NLR and LMR and may provide additional prognostic information when used in conjunction with the International Prognostic Index.
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Observational Study
Rare Variants of ATG5 Are Likely to Be Associated With Chinese Patients With Systemic Lupus Erythematosus.
Recently, common variants within or near ATG5, which is a key autophagy gene required for the formation of autophagosomes, have been identified as a candidate gene of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) by several genome-wide association studies. Moreover, elevated ATG5 expression was observed in SLE as well as other autoimmune diseases. However, no significant associations between variants within ATG5 and SLE were identified in several Chinese populations. ⋯ None of the 5 common SNPs showed significant association between patients and controls, whereas increased frequencies of rare or novel variants were observed in patients compared with healthy controls, with 6/90 in LN patients, 2/30 in SLE patients, and 1/163 in healthy controls. Although these rare variants were observed to be located in the flanking regions of exons instead of missense mutations, patients carrying them tended to have severe clinical phenotype, and in silicon analysis suggested their regulatory effects. Increased frequencies of rare variants of ATG5 were identified in patients with LN and SLE compared with healthy controls, highlighting a likely important role of rare ATG5 variants in Chinese SLE patients.
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Observational Study
Initial Metastatic Site as a Prognostic Factor in Patients With Stage IV Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma.
Few studies have evaluated the presence of hepatic or peritoneal metastasis as a prognostic factor in patients with metastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). This study aimed to elucidate the prognostic value of the initial metastatic, extrahepatic, or hepatic site in patients with metastatic PDAC. Between January 2007 and December 2013, the medical records of 343 patients with metastatic PDAC treated at Seoul National University Bundang Hospital were retrospectively reviewed. ⋯ On multivariate analysis, an ECOG score ≥2 (hazard ratio [HR]: 3.2, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.2-4.5), albumin < 35 g/L (HR: 1.6, 95% CI: 1.1-2.3), C-reactive protein > 10 mg/L (HR: 2.3, 95% CI: 1.6-3.2), neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio > 5 (HR: 1.4, 95% CI: 1.0-2.0), no chemotherapy (HR: 2.0, 95% CI: 1.0-4.1), and metastatic site (LV, HR: 2.1, 95% CI: 1.4-3.1; BOTH, HR: 2.2, 95% CI: 1.6-3.2) were significantly associated with shorter overall survival (OS). Considering the initial metastatic site, the median OS of patients with EH, LV, and BOTH were 7.5 (95% CI: 6.3-8.8), 4.8 (95% CI: 4.1-5.5), and 2.4 (95% CI: 1.9-2.9) months, respectively. The initial metastatic site is significantly and independently associated with OS in patients with metastatic PDAC, serving as an effective prognostic factor.
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Previous studies suggested that the incidental use of β-blockers might influence clinical outcome in solid tumors. We assessed the correlation between the incidental use of β-blockers and clinical outcome in colorectal cancer patients treated with first-line chemotherapy alone or in combination with bevacizumab in metastatic colorectal cancer patients. We collected data from 235 metastatic colorectal cancer patients treated with first-line chemotherapy alone (128 patients) or with bevacizumab (107 patients). ⋯ Our analysis confirmed a potential prognostic role for the use of β-blockers in colorectal cancer patients treated with chemotherapy. Our findings also suggest a potential worse outcome for patients on β-blockers receiving bevacizumab. Future prospective studies should include the incidental use of β-blockers as stratification factor for clinical outcome.
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Optimal management of clinical stage IIIA (N2) non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is controversial. This study is a systematic review and meta-analysis of published randomized control trials of multimodality management strategies for NSCLC. We conducted a comprehensive literature search of the Pubmed, Embase, Medline, and CENTRAL databases for relevant studies comparing patients with stage IIIA (N2) NSCLC undergoing surgery alone, chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy alone, or surgical resection after neoadjuvant treatment with chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy. ⋯ There was a significant increase in pathological complete remission in the mediastinal lymph nodes in stage IIIA (N2) NSCLC patients who received neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy prior to surgical resection compared to those who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy (OR 3.61; 95% CI 1.07-12.15; P = 0.04), but no difference in tumor downstaging, OS, or PFS. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy prior to surgical resection do not appear to be clinically superior to neoadjuvant chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy prior to definitive radiotherapy in IIIA (N2) NSCLC patients. Neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy does not improve survival compared to neoadjuvant chemotherapy alone.