Background: Prognostic scores derived from the blood count have garnered significant interest as an indirect measure of the inflammatory pressure in cancer. The recently developed pan-immune-inflammation value (PIV), an equation including the neutrophil, platelet, monocyte, and lymphocyte levels, has been evaluated in several cohorts, although with variations in the tumor types, disease stages, cut-offs, and treatments. Therefore, we evaluated the association between survival and PIV in cancer, performing a systematic review and meta-analysis. Methods: We conducted a systematic review from the Pubmed, Medline, and Embase databases to filter the published studies until 17 May 2022. The meta-analyses were performed with the generic inverse-variance method with a random-effects model. Results: Fifteen studies encompassing 4942 patients were included. In the pooled analysis of fifteen studies, the patients with higher PIV levels had significantly increased risk of death than those with lower PIV levels (HR: 2.00, 95% CI: 1.51–2.64, p < 0.001) and increased risk of progression or death (HR: 1.80, 95% CI: 1.39–2.32, p < 0.001). Analyses were consistent across several clinical scenarios, including non-metastatic or metastatic disease, different cut-offs (500, 400, and 300), and treatment with targeted therapy or immunotherapy (p < 0.001 for each). Conclusion: The available evidence demonstrates that PIV could be a prognostic biomarker in cancer. However, further research is needed to explore the promise of PIV as a prognostic biomarker in patients with non-metastatic disease or patients treated without immunotherapy or targeted therapy.

Background: After the success of immunotherapy in the treatment of advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), the benefit of neoadjuvant chemoimmunotherapy was compared with chemotherapy for localized NSCLC in several trials. However, the available studies had variable study designs, and study cohorts had limited follow-up times. Therefore, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the benefit of adding immunotherapy to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in patients with localized NSCLC. Methods: We conducted a systematic review using Pubmed, Web of Science, and Scopus databases for studies published until 5 December 2023. This protocol was registered in the PROSPERO database (Registration Number: CRD42023466337). We performed the meta-analyses with the generic inverse-variance method with a fixed effects model. Results: Overall, 7 studies encompassing 2993 patients were included in the analyses. The use of neoadjuvant chemoimmunotherapy was associated with a 41% reduction in the risk of progression or death compared to neoadjuvant chemotherapy (HR: 0.59, 95% CI: 0.52–0.66, p < 0.0001) and a lower risk of death (HR: 0.67, 95% CI: 0.55–0.82, p < 0.0001). The neoadjuvant chemoimmunotherapy improved pCR rates compared to chemotherapy (21.8% vs. 3.8%, OR: 7.04, 95% CI: 5.23–9.47, p < 0.0001), while high-grade adverse events were higher with neoadjuvant chemoimmunotherapy (OR: 1.18, 95% CI: 1.02–1.36, p = 0.0300). Conclusions: The available evidence demonstrates a statistically significant and clinically meaningful event-free survival benefit and possibly an overall survival benefit with neoadjuvant chemoimmunotherapy with a slight increase in high-grade toxicities.

Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have revolutionized cancer therapy and reshaped medical oncology practice over the past decade. However, despite unprecedented and durable clinical responses, most patients eventually fail to respond to ICI therapy due to primary or acquired resistance. There is a great need for complementary alternative medicine, such as botanicals and nutritional supplements, because of their capability to modulate a myriad of molecular mechanisms to prevent immunotherapy resistance and reduce its adverse effects. Mounting evidence suggests that phytochemicals, biologically active compounds derived from plants, can favorably regulate key signaling pathways involved in tumor development and progression. In addition, phytochemicals have been found to exert anticancer effects by altering the expression of checkpoint inhibitors of the immune response. The immunomodulatory activity of phytochemicals in the tumor microenvironment has recently received immense interest. Based on these immunomodulatory activities, phytochemicals could be candidates for combination with ICIs in future clinical studies. The current review focuses on the available evidence for combining phytochemicals with a discussion on the promising opportunities to enhance the efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors and potential challenges resulting from these combinations.

BACKGROUND: The albumin-globulin ratio (AGR) could be a prognostic biomarker in patients with cancer, although the data is limited in patients treated with immune-checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). OBJECTIVES: We aimed to evaluate the association between AGR and survival in ICI-treated patients. METHODS: The data of 212 advanced-stage patients were retrospectively evaluated in this cohort study. The association between AGR with overall (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) were evaluated with multivariate analyses. Additionally, receptor operating curve (ROC) analysis was conducted to assess the AGR’s predictive power in the very early progression (progression within two months) and long-term benefit (more than twelve months survival). RESULTS: The median AGR was calculated as 1.21, and patients were classified into AGR-low and high subgroups according to the median. In the multivariate analyses, patients with lower AGR (< 1.21) had decreased OS (HR: 1.530, 95% CI: 1.100–2.127, p= 0.011) and PFS (HR: 1.390, 95% CI: 1.020–1.895, p= 0.037). The area under curve of AGR to detect early progression and long-term benefit were 0.654 (95% CI: 0.562–0.747, p= 0.001) and 0.671 (95% CI: 0.598–0.744, p< 0.001), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: In our experience, survival with ICIs was impaired in patients with lower AGR. Additionally, the AGR values could detect the very early progression and long-term benefit ICIs.

Anemia remains an essential concern affecting the quality of life and the survival of cancer patients. Although there are different approaches to treating anemia in cancer patients, the number of studies reporting the efficacy of iron replacement in cancer patients is limited. In this study, the efficacy and safety of iron carboxymaltose, a parenteral iron treatment option, in the treatment of anemia, were examined retrospectively. A total of 1102 adult patients who received IV ferric carboxymaltose treatment at Hacettepe Oncology Hospital between 2014 and 2020 were included. The mean hemoglobin change observed at the end of the 12th week was 1.8 g/dL, and the rate of patients with an increase in hemoglobin of 1 g/dL or more was 72.1%. It was observed that the treatment demonstrated effectiveness in patients receiving active cancer treatment in all tumor types. The treatment was generally safe, and no grade 3–5 side effects were observed in the patients included in the study. According to one of the most extensive series published in the literature, iron carboxymaltose is an efficient and safe alternative for cancer patients with iron-deficiency anemia.