Cancer Biomarkers - Volume 34, issue 1

Authors: Sastra, Winata I. Gde | Aditya, Prayudi Pande Kadek | Gradiyanto, Ongko Eric | Ketut, Suwiyoga

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: BACKGROUND: It is essential in the management of ovarian cancers to identify the patients who will benefit from primary complete cytoreductive surgery and those who will rather benefit from neoadjuvant chemotherapy. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the predictive value of preoperative inflammatory markers, i.e. platelet to lymphocyte ratio (PLR), neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR), monocyte to lymphocyte ratio (MLR), red cell distribution width (RDW), and serum CA125 level for surgical outcome in epithelial ovarian cancer. METHODS: A retrospective study was carried out in Sanglah Hospital, Denpasar, Bali. A total of 54 patients with epithelial ovarian …cancer who underwent primary exploratory laparotomy from January 2018 to November 2019 was recruited. Data about clinical characteristics, preoperative inflammatory markers, serum CA125 level, and surgical outcome (optimal vs. suboptimal) was collected from the medical records. Predictive value of the markers were evaluated using ROC curve to determine their accuracy (area under the curve, sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive value). RESULTS: Mean age, parity, and tumor size did not differ between the study groups (p > 0.05). The group with suboptimal outcome had significantly higher PLR, NLR, MLR, and RDW value (p < 0.05). Using the ROC curve, a cut off value was determined for each predictor, i.e. PLR: 196.50, NLR: 3.34, MLR: 0.24, RDW: 13.19, CA125: 300.85. AUC for each predictor were as follows: PLR 0.718 (95% CI: 0.578–0.859), NLR 0.676 (95% CI: 0.529–0.823), MLR 0.700 (95% CI: 0.560–0.839), RDW 0.712 (95% CI: 0.572–0.852), CA125 0.593 (95% CI: 0.436–0.750). Sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy for predicting suboptimal outcome were as follows: PLR (74.2%, 69.6%, 72.2%), NLR (64.5%, 60.9%, 62.9%), MLR (74.2%, 59.1%, 66.7%), RDW (74.2%, 60.9%, 68.5%), CA125 (54.8%, 60.9%, 57.4%). We have some limitations such as small numbers of sample, we generalized whole kinds of ovarian cancer, and this study does not describe follow-up features. CONCLUSION: Preoperative serum inflammatory markers (PLR, MLR, and RDW) may serve as useful markers to predict the surgical outcome with fair accuracy in patients with epithelial ovarian cancer. Show more

Keywords: Epithelial ovarian cancer, inflammatory markers, predictive value, surgical outcome

DOI: 10.3233/CBM-201415

Citation: Cancer Biomarkers, vol. 34, no. 1, pp. 123-129, 2022

Authors: Liang, Tuo | Chen, Jiarui | Xu, Guoyong | Zhang, Zide | Xue, Jiang | Zeng, Haopeng | Jiang, Jie | Chen, Tianyou | Qin, Zhaojie | Li, Hao | Ye, Zhen | Nie, Yunfeng | Liu, Chong | Zhan, Xinli

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Melanoma is fatal cancer originating from melanocytes, whose high metastatic potential leads to an extremely poor prognosis. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to reveal the relationship among EMT, TIICs, and immune checkpoints in melanoma. METHODS: Gene expression data and clinical data of melanoma were downloaded from TCGA, UCSC Xena and GEO databases. EMT-related DEGs were detected for risk score calculation. “ESTIMATE” and “xCell” were used for estimating TIICs and obtaining 64 immune cell subtypes, respectively. Moreover, we evaluated the relationship between the risk score and immune cell subtypes and immune checkpoints. …RESULTS: Seven EMT-related genes were selected to establish a risk scoring system because of their integrated prognostic relevance. The results of GSEA revealed that most of the gene sets focused on immune-related pathways in the low-risk score group. The risk score was significantly correlated with the xCell score of some TIICs, which significantly affected the prognosis of melanoma. Patients with a low-risk score may be associated with a better response to ICI therapy. CONCLUSION: The individualized risk score could effectively conduct risk stratification, overall survival prediction, ICI therapy prediction, and TME judgment for patients with melanoma, which would be conducive to patients’ precise treatment. Show more

Keywords: EMT, TIICs, TME, biomarkers, immune checkpoints

DOI: 10.3233/CBM-210329

Citation: Cancer Biomarkers, vol. 34, no. 1, pp. 131-147, 2022

Authors: Yang, Li | Xu, Zhiyuan | Ma, Lingyu | Liu, Qin | Chang, Amy T.Y. | Wang, Qian | Zha, Jiandong | Zhang, Jinliang | Jiang, Xiaoqin | Zhang, Jingjing | Kong, Feng-Ming (Spring) | Guo, Linlang

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Lymphopenia during definitive radiotherapy (RT) has been shown to reduce survival in patients with cervical cancer. However, there are few studies on the significance of onset time of lymphopenia during RT in patients with cervical cancer. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to exam the prognostic significance of early onset of severe lymphopenia (EOSL) during definitive RT in patients with cervical cancer. METHODS: Newly diagnosed cervical cancer patients treated with definitive RT from January 2015 to December 2019 were eligible for this retrospective study. EOSL was defined as first onset of grade 3–4 lymphopenia …⩽ 3 weeks from the start of RT. Mean body dose (MBD) was the mean radiation dose absorbed by the body during the whole course of external beam RT (EBRT) and was directly obtained from the dose volume histogram (DVH) of the EBRT planning. Logistic regression analysis and restricted cubic spline (RCS) models were applied to assess relationships between clinicopathological factors and EOSL. Survival analysis was performed using Kaplan-Meier curves and log-rank test. A COX regression model was developed to predict overall survival (OS). RESULTS: A total of 104 patients were included and 59.6% had EOSL. MBD (P = 0.04), concurrent cisplatin (P = 0.011), and pre-RT absolute lymphocyte count (ALC) (P = 0.001) were associated with EOSL. A linear relationship (P for non-linearity = 0.803) between MBD and risk of EOSL was found. Patients with EOSL had decreased OS (2-yr 75.1% vs 91.1%, P = 0.021) and progression-free survival (PFS) (2-yr 71.2% vs 83.7%, P = 0.071). An OS prediction COX model was developed with C-index of 0.835 and AUC of 0.872. CONCLUSIONS: EOSL during definitive RT correlates with MBD and predicts poor survival in patients with cervical cancer. Show more

Keywords: Cervical cancer, definitive radiotherapy, early onset of severe lymphopenia, mean body dose, overall survival

DOI: 10.3233/CBM-210292

Citation: Cancer Biomarkers, vol. 34, no. 1, pp. 149-159, 2022

Article Type: Correction

DOI: 10.3233/CBM-229901

Citation: Cancer Biomarkers, vol. 34, no. 1, pp. 161-, 2022