Neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (NACRT) or chemotherapy (NACT) followed by radical resection and then adjuvant therapy is considered the optimal treatment model for locally advanced colorectal cancer (LACRC). A recent total neoadjuvant therapy (TNT) strategy further improved the tumour regression rate preoperatively and reduced local-regional recurrence in locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC). However, distant metastasis was still high, and little overall survival benefit was obtained from these preoperative treatment models. According to mismatch repair protein expression, MSI-H/dMMR and non-MSI-H/pMMR statuses were defined in colorectal cancer (CRC) patients. Due to the special features of biologics in MSI-H/dMMR CRC patients, this subgroup of patients achieved little treatment efficacy from chemoradiotherapy but benefited from immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). The KEYNOTE-177 trial observed favourable survival outcomes in metastatic CRC patients treated with one-line pembrolizumab with tolerable toxicity. Given the better systemic immune function, increased antigenic exposure, and improved long-term memory induction before surgery, neoadjuvant ICI (NAICI) treatment was proposed. The NICHE trial pioneered the use of NAICI treatment in LACRC, and recent reports from several phase II studies demonstrated satisfactory tumour downsizing in CRC. Preclinical rationales and preliminary early-phase human trials reveal the feasibility of NAICI therapy and the therapeutic efficacy provided by this treatment model. Better tumour regression before surgery also increases the possibility of organ preservation for low LARC. However, the optimal treatment strategy and effective biomarker identification for beneficiary selection remain unknown, and potential pitfalls exist, including tumour progression during neoadjuvant treatment due to drug resistance and surgery delay. Given these foundations and questions, further phase II or III trials with large samples need to be conducted to explore the right regimens for the right patients.

This study aims to assess the predictive value of certain markers of inflammation in patients with locally advanced or recurrent/metastatic cervical cancer who are undergoing treatment with anti-programmed death 1 (PD-1) therapy. A total of 105 patients with cervical cancer, who received treatment involving immunocheckpoint inhibitors (ICIs), were included in this retrospective study. We collected information on various peripheral blood indices, including the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio (LMR), systemic immune-inflammation index (SII), and prognostic nutritional index (PNI). To determine the appropriate cutoff values for these inflammatory markers, we performed receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) analysis. Progression-free survival (PFS) was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method, and we conducted both univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses to evaluate the prognostic value of these markers. Out of the 105 patients who received ICI treatment, the median progression-free survival (mPFS) was 19.0 months. We obtained the patients’ clinical characteristics, such as age, pathological type, therapy regimen, Figo stage, NLR, PLR, LMR, SII, and PNI from their medical records. The optimal cutoff values for NLR, PLR, LMR, SII, and PNI were determined as 3.76, 218.1, 3.34, 1147.7, 43.75, respectively. In the univariate analysis, age, pathological type, therapy regimen, Figo stage, and LMR were not found to be associated with PFS. However, high NLR(P=0.001), high PLR(P<0.001), high SII(P<0.001), and low PNI (P=0.003)were all associated with shorter PFS. Multivariate analysis indicated that SII (P=0.017) was an independent risk factor for PFS. This study highlights the potential use of SII as a predictor of progression-free survival in cervical cancer patients undergoing immunotherapy.

Background: The Naples Prognostic Score (NPS) can reflect patient’s nutritional and inflammatory status, which is identified as a prognostic indicator for various malignant tumors. However, its significance in patients with resected locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer (LA-NSCLC) patients who receive neoadjuvant treatment remains unclear so far. Methods: A total of 165 LA-NSCLC patients surgically treated from May 2012 to November 2017 were retrospectively investigated. The LA-NSCLC patients were divided into three groups according to NPS scores. The receiver operating curve (ROC) analysis was performed to reveal the discriminatory ability of NPS and other indicators for predicting the survival. The NPS and clinicopathological variables were further evaluated the prognostic value by univariate and multivariate Cox analysis. Results: The NPS was related to age (P = 0.046), smoking history (P = 0.004), Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) score (P = 0.005), and adjuvant treatment (P = 0.017). Patients with high NPS scores had worse overall survival (OS) (group 1 vs 0, P = 0.006; group 2 vs 0, P < 0.001) and disease-free survival (DFS) (group 1 vs 0, P < 0.001; group 2 vs 0, P < 0.001). The ROC analysis demonstrated that NPS had better predictive ability than other prognostic indicators. Multivariate analysis revealed that NPS was independent prognostic indicator of OS (group 1 vs 0, hazard ratio [HR] =2.591, P = 0.023; group 2 vs 0, HR = 8.744, P = 0.001) and DFS (group 1 vs 0, HR =3.754, P < 0.001; group 2 vs 0, HR = 9.673, P < 0.001). Conclusion: The NPS could be an independent prognostic indicator in patients with resected LA-NSCLC receiving neoadjuvant treatment and more reliable than the other nutritional and inflammatory indicators.

The Naples prognosis score (NPS) is a novel prognostic biomarker-based immune and nutritional status and that can be used to evaluate prognosis. Our study aimed to investigate the prognostic role of NPS in SCLC patients. Patients treated with chemoradiotherapy were retrospectively analyzed between June 2012 and August 2017. We divided patients into three groups depending on the NPS: group 0, n = 31; group 1, n = 100; and group 2, n = 48, and associations between clinical characteristics and NPS group were analyzed. The univariable and multivariable Cox analyses were used to evaluate the prognostic value of clinicopathological characteristics and laboratory indicators for overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS). Data from 179 patients were analyzed. Treatment modality (p < 0.001) and serum CEA (p = 0.03) were significantly different among the NPS groups. The age, sex, smoking status, KPS, Karnofsky performance score (KPS), disease extent, and number of metastatic sites were not correlated with NPS (all p > 0.05). KPS, disease extent, prophylactic cranial irradiation, treatment response and NPS Group were associated with OS. In addition, KPS, disease extent, prophylactic cranial irradiation, treatment response and NPS Group were associated with PFS. Multivariate analysis results showed that NPS was identified as an independent prognostic factor for OS (Group 1: hazard ratio [HR] = 2.704, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.403-5.210; p = 0.003; Group 2: HR = 5.154, 95% CI = 2.614-10.166; p < 0.001) and PFS (Group 1: HR = 2.018, 95% CI = 1.014-4.014; p = 0.045; Group 2: HR = 3.339, 95% CI = 1.650-6.756; p = 0.001). NPS is related to clinical outcomes in patients with SCLC.

Background: Naples prognosis score (NPS) is a new prognostic score according to host inflammatory and nutritional state, and it could be useful for predicting tumor prognosis based on albumin level, total cholesterol level, neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, and lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio. This study aimed to evaluate the clinical significance of Naples prognostic score (NPS) in stage III non-small cell lung cancer patients (NSCLC). Patients and Methods: In this study, 206 patients diagnosed with locally advanced NCCLC receiving chemoradiotherapy were retrospectively reviewed from January 2013 to January 2017. The included patients were divided into 3 groups according to NPS (group 0, group 1, and group 2), and the associations of the NPS with clinical characteristics and outcomes were evaluated among the groups. Survival curves for the NPS were analyzed using the Kaplan–Meier method. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed using the Cox proportional hazards regression model to evaluate the prognostic value of overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS). Results: The median follow-up time of this study was 37.0 (range, 13– 59) months. The median OS was 27 months in group 0, 23 months in group 1, and 21 months in group 2, and median PFS was 15, 12 and 13 in group 0, group 1 and group 2, respectively. Age was significantly different among the 3 groups. The NPS was superior to other host inflammatory and nutritional indexes for prognostic risk stratification. In the multivariate analysis, NPS was identified as an independent prognostic indicator for OS and PFS (all P< 0.05). Conclusion: The NPS system is considered to be a useful predictor of outcomes in patients with stage III NSCLC.

Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is the most prevalent form of esophageal cancer in China and is closely associated with malignant biological characteristics and poor survival. Ferroptosis is a newly discovered iron‐dependent mode of cell death that plays an important role in the biological behavior of ESCC cells. The clinical significance of ferroptosis‐related long noncoding RNAs (FRLs) in ESCC remains unknown and warrants further research. The current study obtained RNA sequencing profiles and corresponding clinical data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) databases, and FRLs were obtained through coexpression analysis. Consensus clustering was employed to divide the subjects into clusters, and immune‐associated pathways were identified by functional analysis. The current study observed significant differences in the enrichment scores of immune cells among different clusters. Patients from TCGA‐ESCC database were designated as the training cohort. A ten‐FRL prediction signature was established using the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator Cox regression model and validated using the GEO cohort and our own independent validation database. Real‐time quantitative polymerase chain reaction was used to verify the expression of the ten FRLs, and the ssGSEA analysis was employed to evaluate their function. In addition, the IMvigor database was used to assess the predictive value of the signature in terms of immunotherapeutic responses. Multivariate Cox and stratification analyses revealed that the ten‐FRL signature was an independent predictor of the overall survival (OS). Patients with ESCC in the high‐risk group displayed worse survival, a characteristic tumor immune microenvironment, and low immunotherapeutic benefits compared to those in the low‐risk group. Collectively, the risk model established in this study could serve as a promising predictor of prognosis and immunotherapeutic response in patients with ESCC.