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Background: In the phase III IMpassion130 trial, combining atezolizumab with first-line nanoparticle albumin-boundpaclitaxel for advanced triple-negative breast cancer (aTNBC) showed a statistically significant progression-free survival (PFS) benefit in the intention-to-treat (ITT) and programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1)-positive populations, and a clinically meaningful overall survival (OS) effect in PD-L1-positive aTNBC. The phase III KEYNOTE-355 trial adding pembrolizumab to chemotherapy for aTNBC showed similar PFS effects. IMpassion131 evaluated first-line atezolizumabepaclitaxel in aTNBC. Patients and methods: Eligible patients [no prior systemic therapy or 12 months since (neo)adjuvant chemotherapy] were randomised 2:1 to atezolizumab 840 mg or placebo (days 1, 15), both with paclitaxel 90 mg/m 2 (days 1, 8, 15), every 28 days until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Stratification factors were tumour PD-L1 status, prior taxane, liver metastases and geographical region. The primary endpoint was investigator-assessed PFS, tested hierarchically first in the PD-L1-positive [immune cell expression 1%, VENTANA PD-L1 (SP142) assay] population, and then in the ITT population. OS was a secondary endpoint. Results: Of 651 randomised patients, 45% had PD-L1-positive aTNBC. At the primary PFS analysis, adding atezolizumab to paclitaxel did not improve investigator-assessed PFS in the PD-L1-positive population [hazard ratio (HR) 0.82, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.60-1.12; P ¼ 0.20; median PFS 6.0 months with atezolizumabepaclitaxel versus 5.7 months with placeboepaclitaxel]. In the PD-L1-positive population, atezolizumabepaclitaxel was associated with more favourable unconfirmed best overall response rate (63% versus 55% with placeboepaclitaxel) and median duration of response (7.2 versus 5.5 months, respectively). Final OS results showed no difference between arms (HR 1.11, 95% CI 0.76-1.64; median 22.1 months with atezolizumabepaclitaxel versus 28.3 months with placeboe paclitaxel in the PD-L1-positive population). Results in the ITT population were consistent with the PD-L1-positive population. The safety profile was consistent with known effects of each study drug. Conclusion: Combining atezolizumab with paclitaxel did not improve PFS or OS versus paclitaxel alone. ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT03125902.

Background: Cases of excessive neutrophil counts in the blood in severe coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patients have drawn significant attention. Neutrophil infiltration was also noted on the pathological findings from autopsies. It is urgent to clarify the pathogenesis of neutrophils leading to severe pneumonia in COVID-19. Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed on 55 COVID-19 patients classified as mild (n = 22), moderate (n = 25), and severe (n = 8) according to the Guidelines released by the National Health Commission of China. Trends relating leukocyte counts and lungs examined by chest CT scan were quantified by Bayesian inference. Transcriptional signatures of host immune cells of four COVID19 patients were analyzed by RNA sequencing of lung specimens and BALF. Results: Neutrophilia occurred in 6 of 8 severe patients at 7-19 days after symptom onset, coinciding with lesion progression. Increasing neutrophil counts paralleled lesion CT values (slope: 0.8 and 0.3-1.2), reflecting neutrophilia-induced lung injury in severe patients. Transcriptome analysis revealed that neutrophil activation was correlated with 17 neutrophil extracellular trap (NET)-associated genes in COVID-19 patients, which was related to innate immunity and interacted with T/NK/B cells, as supported by a protein-protein interaction network analysis. Conclusion: Excessive neutrophils and associated NETs could explain the pathogenesis of lung injury in COVID-19 pneumonia.

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Recently, a series of studies explored the correlation between the neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio and the prognosis of lung cancer. However, the current opinion regarding the prognostic role of the neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio in lung cancer is inconsistent.We performed a meta-analysis of published articles to investigate the prognostic value of the neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio in lung cancer. The hazard ratio (HR) and its 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated.An elevated neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio predicted worse overall survival, with a pooled HR of 1.243 (95%CI: 1.106−1.397; Pheterogeneity=0.001) from multivariate studies and 1.867 (95%CI: 1.487−2.344; Pheterogeneity=0.047) from univariate studies. Subgroup analysis showed that a high neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio yielded worse overall survival in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) (HR=1.192, 95%CI: 1.061−1.399; Pheterogeneity=0.003) as well as small cell lung cancer (SCLC) (HR=1.550, 95% CI: 1.156−2.077; Pheterogeneity=0.625) in multivariate studies.The synthesized evidence from this meta-analysis of published articles demonstrated that an elevated neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio was a predictor of poor overall survival in patients with lung cancer.

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Ratio of monocytes to lymphocytes <9% or >25% is predictive of active tuberculosis.

1001 Background: Pyrotinib, an irreversible pan-ErbB receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor, showed promising anti-tumour activity and acceptable tolerability in patients with HER2+ metastatic breast cancer (MBC) in phase 1/2 trials. Methods: This double-blinded, multicentre, randomised phase 3 trial was conducted in Chinese patients with HER2+ MBC previously treated with taxanes and trastuzumab. Patients were randomly assigned (2:1) to receive 400 mg pyrotinib or placebo orally once daily for 21-day cycles in combination with capecitabine (1000 mg/m2 orally twice daily on days 1–14). The primary endpoint (IRC-assessed progression free survival [PFS]) was assessed in patients who received ≥1 dose of study treatment. Patients whose disease progressed on placebo plus capecitabine received subsequent single agent pyrotinib. Results: Between July, 2016 and November, 2017, 279 patients were randomised to pyrotinib plus capecitabine (n = 185) or placebo plus capecitabine (n = 94) arms. The median PFS was 11.1 months (95% CI 9.66, 16.53) in the pyrotinib plus capecitabine arm and 4.1 months (95% CI 2.79, 4.17) in the placebo plus capecitabine arm. seventy-one patients in placebo plus capecitabine arm received subsequent pyrotinib, showing single-agent response rate of 38.0% (95%CI 26.7%, 49.3%) and median PFS of 5.5 months (95% CI 4.07, 6.90). The most frequent (≥5%) treatment-related ≥ grade 3 adverse events were diarrhoea (30.8% vs 12.8% ) and hand-foot syndrome (15.7% vs 5.3%). Conclusions: In women with HER2+ MBC previously treated with taxanes and trastuzumab, pyrotinib plus capecitabine yield statistically significant better PFS. Pyrotinib monotherapy showed anti-tumour activity. Clinical trial information: NCT02973737. [Table: see text]