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Abstract. The aim of the present study was to investigate the prognostic value of the combined platelet (PLT), fibrinogen (FBG), neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelet to lymphocyte ratio (PLR) (CO-NPF) for postoperative outcomes in patients with lung adenosquamous cancer (ASC). Test results from patients who presented at The Cancer Institute and Hospital of Tianjin Medical University between January 2005 and December 2013 were retrospectively reviewed. CO-NPF was scored between 0 and 4 according to increased PLT, FBG, NLR and PLR prior to being split into two groups based on the presence (≥2) or absence (<2) of the combination of increased inflammatory indexes. In total, data from 134 patients with ASC were reviewed for the present study. Multivariate analysis identified that increased CO-NPF (P= 0.001 and P<0.001, respectively), PLR (P=0.011 and P=0.001, respectively) and FBG (P=0.001 and P<0.001, respectively) were independently associated with shorter disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS). NLR (P=0.006) and PLT (P=0.001) were independent prognostic factors for OS. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curves of CO-NPF (area under the curve, 0.652, P= 0.008, 95% confidence interval, 0.551-0.752) was increased compared with NLR, PLR, PLT and FBG individually, suggesting that CO-NPF has greater predictive value. CO-NPF was significantly and independently associated with shorter DFS and OS, and had greater predictive value compared with NLR, PLR, PLT and FBG in patients with ASC who underwent surgery.

Programmed cell death-1 (PD-1) -targeted immunotherapy has become a promising treatment paradigm for patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Clinical responses to checkpoint inhibition therapy in NSCLC have been associated with programmed death-1 ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression. However, the association between the expression of PD-L1 and PD-L2 and the clinicopathological features and patient outcomes in NSCLC remain unclear. We retrospectively analyzed 364 patients (158 squamous cell carcinoma and 206 adenocarcinoma) who underwent complete resection between 2009 and 2012. Expression of PD-L1 and PD-L2 was determined by immunohistochemistry. Correlations between PD-L1/PD-L2 expression and the clinicopathological features and survival parameters were analyzed and prognostic factors were identified. PD-L1 expression was significantly associated with moderate/heavy smoking history and serum squamous cell carcinoma antigen (SCCA) levels. Multivariate analysis showed patients with high PD-L1 expression had significantly shorter disease free survival (DFS, HR 1.411, P = 0.025) and overall survival (OS, HR 1.659, P = 0.004) than those with low PD-L1 expression at a 50% cutoff value. No significant association was found between PD-L2 expression and patient postoperative survival. Further stratification analysis revealed that in patients with moderate/heavy smoking history, elevated serum SCCA level, and squamous cell carcinoma, PD-L1 expression was associated with significantly shorter DFS and OS. Therefore, PD-L1 expression was correlated with moderate/heavy smoking history and elevated serum SCCA level in NSCLC patients, and was an independently poor predictor of survival.

BackgroundAdenosquamous carcinoma is a rare and aggressive form of lung cancer. The prognostic and predictive value of preoperative serum tumor markers and frequency of EGFR mutations in adenosquamous lung carcinoma are unclear.MethodsWe retrospectively analyzed data and samples collected from 106 radically resected adenosquamous lung carcinoma patients with pathological stage I-IIIA between 2008 and 2013. Correlations between serum tumor marker levels and EGFR mutations as well as survival parameters were analyzed and prognostic factors were identified.ResultsOf the 106 adenosquamous lung carcinoma patients, 29 (27.4%) harbored EGFR mutations. By univariate analysis, advanced clinical stage (P = 0.009 for disease-free survival [DFS]; P = 0.046 for overall survival [OS]), larger tumor size (P = 0.001 for DFS; P = 0.002 for OS), regional lymph node metastasis (P = 0.024 for DFS; P = 0.030 for OS), higher NSE level (P = 0.002 for DFS; P < 0.001 for OS), and higher TMI (tumor marker index) (P = 0.009 for OS) were significantly correlated with a worse prognosis. By multivariate analysis, NSE (P = 0.014) was confirmed as independent predictor for DFS, while NSE (P = 0.001) and TMI (P = 0.038) were independent prognostic factors for OS.ConclusionAdenosquamous lung carcinoma is an aggressive malignancy with relatively high EGFR mutation frequency. Elevated preoperative NSE level and TMI are adverse predictive and prognostic indicators.