Previous studies have identified potential risk factors for pulmonary carcinoid tumors and evaluated the effect of various treatments; however, the results were not entirely consistent. We conducted a population‐based study to further explore relevant prognostic issues. We extracted cases with pulmonary carcinoid tumors from the Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results database. Cox proportional hazard regression was utilized to identify potential significant risk factors, which helped establish a nomogram for predicting long‐term survival. Survival analysis and a competing risk study were conducted to evaluate the value of different surgical approaches. There were 7057 cases included in the study. Univariate and multivariate analyses showed that age, sex, tumor size, stage, histology, surgical type, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy were all significant prognostic factors. A nomogram with good accuracy for predicting 10‐year survival was formulated. Furthermore, patients who had undergone surgery had a significantly better survival than those who did not undergo surgery. There was no significant prognostic difference between lobectomy and sublobectomy stratified by tumor stage; however, lobectomy was associated with a significantly better survival in atypical tumors, especially those with regional disease. Our research identified possible risk factors in a large cohort and constructed a nomogram to visually predict 10‐year survival of pulmonary carcinoid tumors. We showed that lobectomy and sublobectomy should be considered as the mainstay of treatment, especially lobectomies for atypical tumor.

Background: Tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) play a role in the anti-tumor immune response, and are often found in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). Methods: We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis, aiming to establish pooled estimates for survival outcomes of TILs based on their abundance and infiltrating location. A literature search of PubMed/Medline, Embase, Web of Science and the Cochrane Library was conducted. Studies that investigated the prognostic significance of generalized, CD8+, CD4+, FoxP3+, CD3+, and CD45O+ TILs in ESCC patients were included. Results: In pooled analysis, generalized TILs infiltrating the entire tumor mass were positively associated with disease-free survival (DFS), with a univariate-related hazard ratio (HR) of 0.630 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.415–0.955], and also positively associated with overall survival (OS), with a univariate-related HR of 0.586 (0.447–0.770) and a multivariate-related HR of 0.621 (0.439–0.878). The pan-tumor, intra-tumor and peri-tumor CD8+ TILs had a favorable effect on OS, with univariate-related HRs of 0.733 (0.555–0.968), 0.797 (0.660–0.962), and 0.776 (0.635–0.948), respectively. Similar results were observed in CD8+ TILs that infiltrated the whole tumor mass, with a multivariate-related HR of 0.705 (0.524–0.947). CD4+, FoxP3+, CD3+, and CD45O+ TILs were not linked to DFS or OS. Subtypes and spatial locations of TILs seemed to influence study outcomes. Conclusions: Experimental and analytical methods of future studies should be carefully designed to avoid overestimating the effect of TILs on prognosis. Our meta-analysis confirms the prognostic efficacy of generalized TILs and CD8+ TILs in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) patients.

Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) are new therapeutic strategies for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). We aimed to quantitatively evaluate the efficacy and safety of ICIs in NSCLC. Pubmed, Embase, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science were searched for randomized clinical trials comparing ICIs with control therapies in NSCLC. Data were pooled according to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses guidelines. A total of 12 trails comprising 6,919 NSCLC patients were included in this meta-analysis. ICIs therapies significantly improved progression-free survival (PFS) (HR, 0.838; P < 0.001), overall survival (OS) (HR, 0.747; P < 0.001) and objective response rates (ORR) (RR, 1.311; P < 0.001) in NSCLC. Prognostic benefit was observed irrespective of age, sex, treatment line, performance status and histology. Survival improvement of ICIs was limited for NSCLC patients with non-smoker (PFS, P = 0.468; OS, P = 0.317) or central nervous system (CNS) metastasis (PFS, P = 0.209; OS, P = 0.090), or positive EGFR mutation (PFS, P = 0.083; OS, P = 0.522) or PD-L1 expression level less than 5% (PFS, P = 0.370; OS, P = 0.047). The relative risks of all-grade and high-grade (≥3) anemia, neutropenia, leukopenia, thrombocytopenia, stomatitis, nausea, pyrexia, asthenia and neuropathy were all decreased in patients received ICIs compared with control therapies. This meta-analysis provides clinical evidence that ICIs improve PFS, OS, and ORR in NSCLC with fewer adverse effects. Our data establish ICIs as a prefer treatment option for NSCLC patients with smoker, no CNS metastasis, wild type EGFR, and high PD-L1 expression.