• This meta-analysis assesses the role of PET/CT in breast cancer during NAC. • Pathological responses were based on both primary tumour and lymph node. • F-FDG PET/CT has a moderate accuracy in predicting the pathological response.

CONUT could easily be calculated from blood examination data. Recently, it has been shown that CONUT is an independent prognostic marker in malignant pleural mesothelioma 22 , resected lung squamous cell carcinoma 23 , gastric cancer 4 , and head and neck cancer 24. However, its role in breast cancer has not been reported. To our knowledge, we firstly attempted to assess the prognostic significance of CONUT in breast cancer patients who received curative resection based on a large study. Materials and Methods Patients and follow-up. A total of 1,364 breast cancer patients who received surgical resection from 2007 to 2010 in West China Hospital of Sichuan University were recruited (Supplementary Dataset 1). The complete preoperative blood cell count was procured within seven days before surgery. The exclusion criteria were as follows: (1) patients who received chemotherapy or radiotherapy before the surgery; (2) patients with inflammatory disease or autoimmune disease; (3) patients who lacked detailed clinicopathological information; (4) male breast cancer patients. Finally, 861 cases were included in the present retrospective study. All the patients were followed up every three months in the first three years, every six months for five years, and annually within 6-10 years after the operation. Clinical checkup , laboratory examination and radiological assessment were included in the follow-up investigations.

PurposeNumerous studies have reported the prognostic significance of lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio (LMR) in malignancies, but its prognostic value among lung cancer remains controversial. This meta-analysis aimed to explore the prognostic significance of LMR in lung cancer patients.ResultsEight studies including 3954 patients were included in this meta-analysis. Pooled results indicated that low LMR was significantly associated with poorer progression-free survival (hazard ratio (HR): 1.431, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.294–1.582, p < 0.001) and overall survival (OS) (HR: 1.651, 95% CI: 1.306–2.086, p < 0.001), compared with high LMR. Similar results were observed in subgroups regardless of treatment, LMR cut-off value, or districts. However, no significant correlation between the LMR and OS was observed in the small cell lung cancer (SCLC) subgroup (HR = 1.262, 95% CI: 0.864–1.841, p = 0.229).Materials and MethodsIdentified literatures were extracted and retrieved from PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library databases; All eligible studies focused on the association between LMR and the prognosis of lung cancer.ConclusionsLow LMR is associated with poor outcomes among lung cancer patients. Further studies are needed to discuss the correlation between LMR and lung cancer prognosis.

No abstract

Background: Ki-67 is a widely used marker of tumor proliferation, but the prognostic value of ki-67 in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) has not been comprehensively reviewed. This meta-analysis was conducted to evaluate the association between ki-67 expression and survival of patients with resected TNBC.Materials and Methods: Relevant studies, evaluating the prognostic impact of pretreatment ki-67 in resected TNBC patients, were identified from PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, and Cochrane Library until March 14, 2019. Hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated as effect values for disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS).Results: In present meta-analysis, 35 studies with 7,716 enrolled patients were eligible for inclusion. Pooled results showed that a high ki-67 expression was significantly associated with poor DFS (HR = 1.73, 95% CI: 1.45–2.07, p < 0.001) and poor OS (HR = 1.65, 95% CI: 1.27–2.14, p < 0.001) in resected TNBC. In the subgroup analysis, when a cutoff of Ki-67 staining ≥40% was applied, the pooled HR for DFS and OS was 2.30 (95% CI 1.54–3.44, p < 0.001) and 2.95 (95% CI 1.67–5.19, p < 0.001), respectively.Conclusion: A high Ki-67 expression is a poor prognostic factor of resected TNBC. The cut-off of ki-67 ≥40% is associated with a greater risk of recurrence and death compared with lower expression rates, despite the Ki-67 threshold with the greatest prognostic significance is as yet unknown.