Background and Objectives: Previous studies of the prognostic value of the signet ring cell (SRC) type have yielded inconsistent results. Therefore, the aim of the present meta-analysis is to explore the clinicopathological characteristics and prognostic value of SRCs.

Objectives. Recent trials have shown an overall survival (OS) benefit in 10-40% advanced cancer patients treated with programmed cell death 1 (PD-1) or programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) inhibitors. Here, we aimed to evaluate the relationship between PD-L1 expression and the therapeutic efficacy of PD-1 or PD-L1 inhibitors in patients with cancer with recurrent or metastatic disease, compared with control treatments. Methods. We systematically searched Medline (PubMed), Embase, and Cochrane Library databases up to Jan 2019 and pooled the treatment effects (hazard ratio or relative ratio) of PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors in patients with different PD-L1 expression. Results. Overall, twenty-four qualifying trials with over 14,860 subjects were eligible in this study. Compared with conventional agents, anti-PD/PD-L1 drugs significantly reduced the risk of death (hazard ratio 0.72, 95% CI 0.66 to 0.78), irrespective of the tumor type. Additionally, when PD-L1 expression ≥1% was defined as positive, anti-PD-1/PD-L1 monotherapy correlated with prolonged overall survival in patients with nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC) (0.72, 0.61 to 0.86) and other cancer types (0.66, 0.57 to 0.76) patients with PD-L1 positive, rather than those with PD-L1 negative (hazard ratio for NSCLC and other cancer types: 0.84 and 0.87, respectively; all ). The subgroup analyses to experimental agents, PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors, PD-L1 antibody clone, and type of IHC scoring method validated the robustness of these findings. However, anti-PD-1/PD-L1 combination therapies can reduce the risk of death for patients with different cancer types, regardless of PD-L1 expression ( for all PD-L1 expression status). Conclusions. We recommend PD-L1 expression as a predictive biomarker in patient selection for anti-PD-1/PD-L1 monotherapy, but not for combination therapies.

Despite that immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) had tremendous improved the survival of multiple solid tumors, only a limited proportion of patients are responsive to ICIs. Therefore, effective variables are urgently needed to predict the probability of response to ICIs. Systematic searches were conducted from inception up to May, 2020. Prospective or retrospective studies of ICIs that investigated the association between body mass index (BMI) and survival outcomes, including overall survival (OS) and/or progression-free survival (PFS), were selected. The association between each BMI category and survival outcomes was calculated using Cox proportional hazard regression models and quantified as hazard ratio (HR) with corresponding 95% confidence interval. Seven clinical studies involving data from 3768 individual patients were included. The median OS was 15.5 months (95% confidence interval: 14.7–16.2 mo) and the median PFS was 5.7 months (5.2–6.3 mo). The median OS was significantly longer in overweight/obese patients than in nonoverweight patients (20.7 vs. 11.3 mo; P<0.001). The difference in OS between overweight and obese patients was not statistically significant (HR: 1.14, P=0.098). Similar results were observed for PFS outcomes. Subgroup analysis demonstrated improved OS in overweight/obese patients with nonsmall-cell lung cancer (HR: 0.81, P=0.002), melanoma (HR: 0.66, P<0.001), renal cell carcinoma (HR: 0.53, P<0.001), and multiple cancer type (HR: 0.34, P<0.001), with parallel results noted regarding PFS outcomes. Results of the present study suggested that BMI may be a satisfactory prognostic factor for patients treated with ICIs.

The Glasgow Prognostic Score (GPS) has been shown to be associated with survival rates in patients with advanced cancer. The present study aimed to compare the GPS with the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group Performance Status (ECOG PS) in patients with gastric cancer with peritoneal seeding. For the investigation, a total of 384 gastric patients with peritoneal metastasis were retrospectively analyzed. Patients with elevated C‑reactive protein (CRP; >10 mg/l) and hypoalbuminemia (<35 mg/l) were assigned a score of 2. Patients were assigned a score of 1 if presenting with only one of these abnormalities, and a score of 0 if neither of these abnormalities were present. The clinicopathologic characteristics and clinical outcomes of patients with peritoneal seeding were analyzed. The results showed that the median overall survival (OS) of patients in the GPS 0 group was longer, compared with that in the GPS 1 and GPS 2 groups (15.50, vs. 10.07 and 7.97 months, respectively; P<0.001). No significant difference was found between the median OS of patients with a good performance status (ECOG <2) and those with a poor (ECOG ≥2) performance status (13.67, vs. 11.80 months; P=0.076). In the subgroup analysis, the median OS in the GPS 0 group was significantly longer, compared with that in the GPS 1 and GPS 2 groups, for the patients receiving palliative chemotherapy and patients without palliative chemotherapy. Multivariate survival analysis demonstrated that CA19‑9, palliative gastrectomy, first‑line chemotherapy and GPS were the prognostic factors predicting OS. In conclusion, the GPS was superior to the subjective assessment of ECOG PS as a prognostic factor in predicting the outcome of gastric cancer with peritoneal seeding.

Background: According to the 8th edition AJCC staging manual, a least of 16 lymph nodes retrieval (LNRs) is the minimal requirement for lymph nodes (LNs) dissection of gastric cancer surgery. Previous studies have shown that increasing the number of LNRs (≥30) prolongs survival for selected patients. However, the necessity of retrieving 30 or more LN for stage II gastric cancer patients is still under debate. Aim: This study aims to explore the impact of retrieving 30 or more lymph nodes on the survival of stage II cancer patients. Methods: A total of 1,177 patients diagnosed with stage II gastric cancer were enrolled in this study. The clinicopathological parameters and the impact of different LNRs (<30 or ≥30) and positive lymph node ratio (NR) on overall survival (OS) were retrospectively analyzed. Results: The mean number of LNRs was 34 ± 15. A total of 44% (518/1,177) of patients had an LNRs <30, while 56% (659/1,177) of patients had an LNRs ≥30. The 5-year survival rate was 81% for all patients, 76% for the LNRs 60 years/male/underwent total gastrectomy/stage IIB. For N+ patients, higher NR was significantly correlated with poor survival. Conclusion: The survival benefit of retrieving 30 LNs varies in different subgroups. An LNRs of 30 is mandatory for selected stage II gastric cancer patients.