We investigated the role of the lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio (LMR) at diagnosis in patients with small cell lung cancer (SCLC) treated with standard chemotherapy. We retrospectively reviewed all SCLC patients who received frontline platinum-based chemotherapy or chemoradiotherapy. The cut-off LMR value at diagnosis was 4.19 according to time-dependent receiver-operating characteristic analysis. A total of 188 patients were divided into two groups according to the LMR at diagnosis (low vs. high LMR). Of the 171 patients evaluated for treatment response, 14 (12.4%) in the low LMR group and 1 (1.7%) in the high LMR group were non-responders (p = 0.025). In the whole patient cohort, progression-free survival and overall survival were significantly shorter in the low LMR group (low vs. high: median 6.4 vs. 7.1 months, p = 0.001; median 10.6 vs. 13.1 months, p = 0.003, respectively). On multivariate analysis, a low LMR at diagnosis was an independent unfavourable prognostic factor for predicting survival. The LMR at diagnosis could be helpful for predicting prognosis in SCLC.

BackgroundClinical impact of the Geriatric Nutritional Risk Index (GNRI) in patients with extensive‐stage disease small cell lung cancer (ED‐SCLC) have not previously been reported.MethodsThis study analyzed 352 patients enrolled in a previous randomized phase III trial comparing the efficacy of irinotecan plus cisplatin with that of etoposide plus cisplatin as the first‐line therapy for ED‐SCLC. GNRI values were calculated using serum albumin levels and actual and ideal bodyweights. Patients with a GNRI > 98, 92–98, and <92 were grouped into no, low, and moderate/major risk groups, respectively.ResultsThe objective response rates were 63.2%, 52.6%, and 49.2% in the no, low, and moderate/major risk groups, respectively (P = 0.024). The median progression‐free survival (PFS) was shorter in patients with a lower GNRI than in those with a higher GNRI (no vs. low vs. moderate/major risk group; 6.5 vs. 5.8 vs. 5.9 months, respectively; P = 0.028). There were significant differences in median overall survival (OS) according to GNRI (no vs. low vs. moderate/major risk group; 13.2 vs. 10.3 vs. 8.4 months, respectively; P < 0.001). Multivariate analysis revealed that being in the moderate/major risk group was an independent poor prognostic factor for PFS (hazard ratio [HR]: 1.300, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.012–1.670; P = 0.040) and OS (HR: 1.539; 95% CI: 1.069–2.216; P = 0.020).ConclusionsThis prospective study shows that a low GNRI value was associated with a poor prognosis, and it supports the relationship between systemic inflammation, nutritional status, and clinical outcomes in patients with ED‐SCLC.Key pointsSignificant findings of the studyThe lower GNRI group had a low response rate to chemotherapy for ED‐SCLC. The HRs for PFS and OS were 1.300 and 1.539 in the patients with GNRI < 92.What this study addsLow GNRI is associated with poor prognosis in ED‐SCLC.

PurposeThe present study is to investigate the significance of CD44 variant 9 (CD44v9) expression as a biomarker in primary gastric cancer.Materials and MethodsWith various gastric tissues, we performed immunohistochemical staining for CD44v9.ResultsThe positive expression rates for CD44v9 in tumor, including adenoma, early gastric cancer (EGC), and advanced gastric cancer (AGC), were higher than those in non-tumor tissues (p=0.003). In addition, the higher expression for CD44v9 was observed as the tissue becomes malignant. In the analysis of 333 gastric cancer tissues, we found that positive expression rates for CD44v9 were higher in the intestinal type or well differentiated gastric cancer than in the diffuse type or poorly differentiated gastric cancer. Interestingly, the positive expression indicated poor prognosis in EGC (5-year survival rate [5-YSR] in stage I, 81.7% vs. 95.2%; p=0.013), but not in AGC (5-YSR in stage II, 66.9% vs. 62.2%; p=0.821; 5-YSR in stage III, 34.5% vs. 32.0%; p=0.929). Moreover, strong positive expression (3+) showed a trend suggesting worse prognosis only in EGC, and it appeared to be associated with lymph node metastasis.ConclusionThis study suggests that CD44v9 may be a good biomarker for prognosis prediction and for chemoprevention or biomarker-driven therapies only for EGC.

We demonstrated male predominance in hiccup patients. This gender difference for hiccups was more pronounced in patients with non-CNS causes, whereas indistinct in patients with CNS causes.