Background: In colorectal cancer (CRC), tumor deposits (TD) have been used to guide the N staging only in node-negative patients. It remains unknown about the prognostic value of TD in combination with positive lymph node ratio (LNR) in stage III CRC. Patients and methods: The authors analyzed data from 31 139 eligible patients diagnosed with stage III CRC, including 30 230 from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database as a training set and 909 from two Chinese hospitals as a validation set. The associations of TD and LNR with cancer-specific survival (CSS) and overall survival (OS) were evaluated using the Kaplan–Meier method and Cox regression models. Results: Both TD-positive and high LNR (value ≥0.4) were associated with worse CSS in the training [multivariable hazard ratio (HR), 1.50; 95% CI: 1.43–1.58 and HR, 1.74; 95% CI: 1.62–1.86, respectively] and validation sets (HR, 1.90; 95% CI: 1.41–2.54 and HR, 2.01; 95% CI: 1.29–3.15, respectively). Compared to patients with TD-negative and low LNR (value<0.4), those with TD-positive and high LNR had a 4.09-fold risk of CRC-specific death in the training set (HR, 4.09; 95% CI: 3.54–4.72) and 4.60-fold risk in the validation set (HR, 4.60; 95% CI: 2.88–7.35). Patients with TD-positive/H-LNR CRC on the right side had the worst prognosis (P<0.001). The combined variable of TD and LNR contributed the most to CSS prediction in the training (24.26%) and validation (32.31%) sets. A nomogram including TD and LNR showed satisfactory discriminative ability, and calibration curves indicated favorable consistency in both the training and validation sets. Conclusions: TD and LNR represent independent prognostic predictors for stage III CRC. A combination of TD and LNR could be used to identify those at high-risk of CRC deaths.

Compelling evidences have manifested that breast cancer cells prefer to metastasize to certain distant organs, including brain, lung, bone and liver. According to the canonical “seed and soil” theory, this prominent biological behavior, termed as metastatic organotropism, involves intricate interactions between breast cancer cells (the “seeds”) and specific residents in the tumor microenvironment (the “soil”), initiating from pre-metastatic niche formation to metastatic outgrowth. Recently, multifaceted heterogeneity of tissue-specific macrophages (TSMs) and their roles played in organotropic metastases of breast cancer are incrementally unveiled. Herein, we decipher multiple diversities of TSMs, including evolvement, profiles, functions and metabolic characteristics under different polarization states. Further, we elaborate on bidirectional effects of TSMs on metastatic organotropism of breast cancer (both to the “seeds” and “soil”), and unearth underlying signaling pathways based on updated mechanistic researches. Lastly, we compile a series of clinical trials, hoping to illuminate promising TSM-targeting therapies against breast cancer organotropic metastases.

Objective: Gastric cancer is a serious human chronic disease. The gastric signet ring cell carcinoma (GSRCC) is the most-dangerous subtype with several acute complications, including gastrointestinal hemorrhage, gastric perforation, pyloric obstruction and so on. This study aimed to compare the predictive efficiency of positive lymph nodes (PLN) and log odds of positive lymph nodes (LODDS) for survival and to establish a LODDS-based nomogram model in stage III-IV GSRCC.Methods: Stage III-IV GSRCC patients were acquired between 2015 and 2019 from SEER dataset and the affiliated Yixing hospital of jiangsu university, serving as training and validation datasets respectively. The X-tile software was used to identify cut-off values while their relationship with clinical features was explored by chi-square test. The Kaplan-Meier analysis was applied for survival curve while cox regression analysis was performed for independent risk factors. The nomogram model was built with ROC and calibration curves for verification.Results: A total of 585 stage III-IV GSRCC patients were included in this study with 536 patients for training and 49 patients for validation. The LODDS showed better predictive efficiency for overall survival (OS) and cancer-specific survival (CSS) than PLN. The LODDS, M stage and chemotherapy status were independent factors for both OS and CSS, with LODDS contribution accounting for 31.47% in OS and 30.39% in CSS. A LODDS-based nomogram was built with accurate efficiency in stage III-IV GSRCC. The 1-year, 2-year, 3-year OS area under curve (AUC) values were 0.755, 0.795, 0.759 for internal and 0.776, 0.756, 0.816 for external verification while 1-year, 2-year, 3-year CSS AUC values were 0.745, 0.803, 0.770 for internal and 0.796, 0.762, 0.820 for external verification.Conclusion: LODDS is an independent risk factor in stage III-IV GSRCC. The LODDS-based nomogram model showed excellent predictive efficiency, providing a novel insight for early diagnosis and precise therapies of stage III-IV GSRCC.

Background: The aim of this study was to assess the prognostic significance of positive lymph node ratio (LNR), tumor deposits (TD), and perineural invasion (PNI) in advanced colorectal signet-ring cell carcinoma (SRCC).Methods: A multicenter retrospective cohort analysis was conducted involving 677 patients with advanced colorectal SRCC. The associations of variables with CSS and OS were analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier method and multivariable Cox proportional hazards models. A nomogram model was developed to predict outcomes.Results: High-LNR, TD-positive, and PNI-positive were associated with poorer CSS and OS in both the training and validation cohorts. Multivariate Cox analysis identified T stage, M stage, TD, CEA, chemotherapy, and LNR as independent prognostic factors. A prognostic nomogram model incorporating these variables demonstrated excellent calibration and satisfactory predictive accuracy. Survival curves generated from individualized nomogram scores effectively discriminated prognostic outcomes (P < 0.001). The combined variable of LNR, TD, and PNI significantly enhanced the predictive performance. Specifically, the combined variable exhibited the highest relative contribution to OS at 23.4%, surpassing that of T and M stages. For CSS, its relative contribution was 21.4%, ranking second only to T and M stages.Conclusion: LNR, TD, and PNI served as prognostic factors for advanced colorectal SRCC. The combined analysis demonstrated a higher prognostic predictive value.