Aim: To compare the seropositivity rate of cancer patients with noncancer controls after inactive SARS-CoV-2 vaccination and evaluate the factors affecting seropositivity. Method: Spike IgG antibod... Plain language summary Cancer patients are at high risk for infection with SARS-CoV-2 and of developing the associated disease, COVID-19, which therefore puts them in the priority group for vaccina...

Atezolizumab is now the standard treatment for extensive-stage small cell lung cancer (ES-SCLC). Herein, we investigated the prognostic role of inflammatory markers in patients treated with atezolizumab plus chemotherapy and evaluated the efficacy and safety of adding atezolizumab to chemotherapy for patients with ES-SCLC and prognostic and predictive factors as a real-life experience. This retrospective study included 55 patients who received front-line atezolizumab with etoposide plus platin regimen for ES-SCLC. We analyzed the survival outcomes and factors that may predict response and survival. The objective response rate (ORR) was 81.8%. At a median follow-up of 23.5 months, the median progression-free survival (PFS) time was 10.8 months, and the median overall survival (OS) time was 15.2 months. In univariate analysis for PFS, limited-stage disease at the time of diagnosis, the presence of prophylactic cranial irradiation (PCI), the presence of liver metastasis, neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), and platelet-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) were found to be prognostic factors (P = .041, P = .034, P = .031, P = .004, and P = <.001, respectively). In other words, while the median PFS time was 14.1 months in patients with PLR ≤ 135.7, it was 7.5 months in patients with > 135.7. Similarly, median PFS was 14.9 months in patients with NLR ≤ 3.43, while it was 9.6 months in patients with > 3.43. Univariate analysis for OS revealed that limited stage at the time of diagnosis, NLR and PLR were significant prognostic indicators (P = .01, P = .006, and P = .007, respectively). Median OS time for patients with both NLR ≤ 3.43 and PLR ≤ 135.7 was significantly better than that of patients with NLR > 3.43 and PLR > 135.7 (16.9 vs 11.3 and 16.9 vs 11.5 months, respectively). Logistic regression analysis demonstrated that PLR was an independent significant predictive factor for the response to atezolizumab plus chemotherapy (OR: 0.07, P = .028). The patients with PLR ≤ 135.7 were significantly good responders to atezolizumab plus chemotherapy treatment. Real-life data demonstrated a significant correlation between survival and NLR and, PLR in ES-SCLC patients treated with atezolizumab. In addition, PLR was a significant predictive indicator of response to atezolizumab plus chemotherapy.

Purpose: Patients with locally advanced breast cancer (LABC) should be treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC). Pathological complete response (pCR) is related to better disease-free survival (DFS). The best strategy for assessing the efficacy of NAC has not been established yet, but several studies have shown that 18F-FDG PET/CT is a potential imaging tool for assessing pCR. The aim of this study is to investigate the merits of 18F-FDG PET/CT imaging in predicting pCR in both axillary and breast tissue and to establish a threshold maximum standard uptake value (SUVmax) for predicting the response after completion of NAC. Methods: A total of 186 LABC patients, treated with an NAC regimen according to tumor subtype, were retrospectively analyzed in this study. All patients underwent 18F-FDG PET/CT imaging before and after completion of NAC. PET parameters were measured in the most FDG avid breast tissue and axillary lymph nodes. We analyzed the correlation between the tumor SUVmax of the PET/CT response and the pCR after surgery. DFS was also evaluated with respect to pCR. Results: Higher pCR rates were significantly associated with a higher tumor grade, an initial Ki-67 ≥20% (p = 0.03 and p = 0.003, respectively), a triple-negative subtype (32.9%), and a human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER-2)-positive subtype (24.7%) (p < 0.001). There was a significant correlation between the pCR and a complete response in 18F-FDG PET/CT (p < 0.001). The overall sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of 18F-FDG PET/CT to determine the pCR after NAC were 100%, 72.2%, 85%, 75.2%, and 100%, respectively. We demonstrated a 1.1 cutoff SUVmax for breast tumors after NAC (OR: 3.94, 95% CI: 1.14–5.05, p = 0.004), the 18F-FDG PET/CT response to NAC (OR: 0.50, 95% CI: 0.25–0.99, p = 0.003), and the molecular subtype of breast tumors (OR: 0.58, 95% CI: 0.38–0.88, p = 0.011). Conclusion: Our results confirm that 18F-FDG PET/CT is a useful method for predicting the NAC response in LABC.

The incidence of papillary thyroid cancer has fluctuated, partly due to advancements in neck ultrasonography and fine-needle aspiration (FNA). Identifying additional markers to differentiate benign from malignant thyroid nodules could optimize patient management and reduce unnecessary procedures. This retrospective study included 355 patients categorized into those without nodules (group 1) and those with nodules (group 2). FNA results classified nodules as benign (group A) or malignant (group B). The Pearson and Spearman correlations, Student t test, Mann–Whitney U test, and receiver operating characteristic curve analysis calculated and compared inflammatory markers across groups. The study cohort included 126 patients without nodules (group 1), and 229 patients with nodules (group 2) of whom 39 were diagnosed with papillary thyroid cancer. The median age was 56, with 54.4% females and 45.6% males. Receiver operating characteristic analysis revealed significant but poor diagnostic performance for mean platelet volume (MPV) and neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), with optimal cutoff values of 10.1 and 1.60, respectively ( P < .001; area under the curve: 0.30), and P < .001, area under the curve: 0.24, respectively). Patients with MPV ≥ 10.1 fL had a higher prevalence of thyroid cancer (17.1%) compared to those with MPV < 10.1 fL (5.4%). Patients with NLR ≥ 1.6 exhibited a higher prevalence of thyroid cancer (54.7%) compared to those with NLR < 1.6 (4.6%). Higher MPV and NLR values were also significantly associated with higher thyroid imaging reporting and data system classifications ( P < .001 and P = .05, respectively). Elevated MPV and NLR are significantly associated with thyroid cancer and higher thyroid imaging reporting and data system classifications. These markers, combined with ultrasonography and FNA, may aid in differentiating benign from malignant thyroid nodules, potentially improving patient management and reducing unnecessary procedures.