Clinical Analysis of 50 Cases of Primary Pulmonary Lymphoma: A Retrospective Study and Literature Review.

Objective: This study aimed at to raise the awareness understanding of primary pulmonary lymphoma (PPL) by analyzing the clinical manifestation, imaging, pathology, diagnosis, treatment, and prognostic features of 50 cases of PPL. Methods: The study of 50 individuals with PPL diagnosed at the First affiliated hospital of Nanchang university between January 2009 and December 2019 was performed. Results: Overall, 27 males and 23 females were enrolled, with an average age of 57.6 ± 15.6 years. The primary symptoms included, cough (n = 37), expectoration (n = 25), sputum with blood (n = 12), and chest pain (n = 12). Two individuals had Hodgkin's lymphoma and 48 patients had non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL). We divided the NHL cases into mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma (MALT) (n = 21), diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (n = 12), small lymphocytic lymphoma (n = 2), mantle B-cell lymphoma (n = 2), follicular lymphoma (n = 1), B-cell lymphoma without further classification (n = 8), and T-cell lymphoma (n = 2). The imaging findings revealed that unilateral lung involvement was more common among the patients. The longest follow-up duration up to December 2019 was 123 months with 40 surviving patients. The 5-year overall survival and progression-free survival were 46.7% and 44.4%, respectively. Age was an independent predictive factor for the 5-year survival (hazard ratio, 8.900; P = .038), (P < .05). Conclusion: PPL is a uncommon disease with atypical clinical manifestations and is often misdiagnosed. Immunohistochemistry is currently the standard used in pathologic evaluation of PPL. MALT prognosis is better in contrast with other kinds of PPL. Surgery or radiotherapy can be considered in patients with limited lesions, and chemotherapy is the first treatment option for diffuse lesions. Age of ≥ 60 years was reported as an independent adverse predictive factor.

Based on clinical Ki-67 expression and serum infiltrating lymphocytes related nomogram for predicting the diagnosis of glioma-grading.

Background: Compelling evidence indicates that elevated peripheral serum lymphocytes are associated with a favorable prognosis in various cancers. However, the association between serum lymphocytes and glioma is contradictory. In this study, a nomogram was established to predict the diagnosis of glioma-grading through Ki-67 expression and serum lymphocytes. Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis of 239 patients diagnosed with LGG and 178 patients with HGG. Immunohistochemistry was used to determine the Ki-67 expression. Following multivariate logistic regression analysis, a nomogram was established and used to identify the most related factors associated with HGG. The consistency index (C-index), decision curve analysis (DCA), and a calibration curve were used to validate the model. Results: The number of LGG patients with more IDH1/2 mutations and 1p19q co-deletion was greater than that of HGG patients. The multivariate logistic analysis identified Ki-67 expression, serum lymphocyte count, and serum albumin (ALU) as independent risk factors associated with HGG, and these factors were included in a nomogram in the training cohort. In the validation cohort, the nomogram demonstrated good calibration and high consistency (C-index = 0.794). The Spearman correlation analysis revealed a significant association between HGG and serum lymphocyte count (r = -0.238, P <0.001), ALU (r = -0.232, P <0.001), and Ki-67 expression (r = 0.457, P <0.001). Furthermore, the Ki-67 expression was negatively correlated with the serum lymphocyte count (r = -0.244, P <0.05). LGG patients had lower Ki-67 expression and higher serum lymphocytes compared with HGG patients, and a combination of these two variables was significantly higher in HGG patients. Conclusion: The constructed nomogram is capable of predicting the diagnosis of glioma-grade. A decrease in the level of serum lymphocyte count and increased Ki-67 expression in HGG patients indicate that their immunological function is diminished and the tumor is more aggressive.

Nomogram Predicting Cancer-Specific Death in Parotid Carcinoma: a Competing Risk Analysis.

PURPOSE: Multiple factors have been shown to be tied to the prognosis of individuals with parotid cancer (PC); however, there are limited numbers of reliable as well as straightforward tools available for clinical estimation of individualized mortality. Here, a competing risk nomogram was established to assess the risk of cancer-specific deaths (CSD) in individuals with PC. METHODS: Data of PC patients analyzed in this work were retrieved from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) data repository and the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University (China). Univariate Lasso regression coupled with multivariate Cox assessments were adopted to explore the predictive factors influencing CSD. The cumulative incidence function (CIF) coupled with the Fine-Gray proportional hazards model was employed to determine the risk indicators tied to CSD as per the univariate, as well as multivariate analyses conducted in the R software. Finally, we created and validated a nomogram to forecast the 3- and 5-year CSD likelihood. RESULTS: Overall, 1,467 PC patients were identified from the SEER data repository, with the 3- and 5-year CSD CIF after diagnosis being 21.4% and 24.1%, respectively. The univariate along with the Lasso regression data revealed that nine independent risk factors were tied to CSD in the test dataset (n = 1,035) retrieved from the SEER data repository. Additionally, multivariate data of Fine-Gray proportional subdistribution hazards model illustrated that N stage, Age, T stage, Histologic, M stage, grade, surgery, and radiation were independent risk factors influencing CSD in an individual with PC in the test dataset (p < 0.05). Based on optimization performed using the Bayesian information criterion (BIC), six variables were incorporated in the prognostic nomogram. In the internal SEER data repository verification dataset (n = 432) and the external medical center verification dataset (n = 473), our nomogram was well calibrated and exhibited considerable estimation efficiency. CONCLUSION: The competing risk nomogram presented here can be used for assessing cancer-specific mortality in PC patients.

A Competing Risk Nomogram for Predicting Cancer-Specific Death of Patients With Maxillary Sinus Carcinoma.

OBJECTIVES: Herein, we purposed to establish and verify a competing risk nomogram for estimating the risk of cancer-specific death (CSD) in Maxillary Sinus Carcinoma (MSC) patients. METHODS: The data of individuals with MSC used in this study was abstracted from the (SEER) Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results data resource as well as from the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University (China). The risk predictors linked to CSD were identified using the CIF (cumulative incidence function) along with the Fine-Gray proportional hazards model on the basis of univariate analysis coupled with multivariate analysis implemented in the R-software. After that, a nomogram was created and verified to estimate the three- and five-year CSD probability. RESULTS: Overall, 478 individuals with MSC were enrolled from the SEER data resource, with a 3- and 5-year cumulative incidence of CSD after diagnosis of 42.1% and 44.3%, respectively. The Fine-Gray analysis illustrated that age, histological type, N stage, grade, surgery, and T stage were independent predictors linked to CSD in the SEER-training data set (n = 343). These variables were incorporated in the prediction nomogram. The nomogram was well calibrated and it demonstrated a remarkable estimation accuracy in the internal validation data set (n = 135) abstracted from the SEER data resource and the external validation data set (n = 200). The nomograms were well-calibrated and had a good discriminative ability with concordance indexes (c-indexes) of 0.810, 0.761, and 0.755 for the 3- and 5-year prognosis prediction of MSC-specific mortality in the training cohort, internal validation, and external validation cohort, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The competing risk nomogram constructed herein proved to be an optimal assistant tool for estimating CSD in individuals with MSC.

The Ki-67 Proliferation Index-Related Nomogram to Predict the Response of First-Line Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors or Chemotherapy in Non-small Cell Lung Cancer Patients With Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor-Mutant Status.

Background: The correlation between Ki-67 and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)- or Kristen rat sarcoma viral oncogene homolog (KRAS)-mutant status in advanced or postoperative-recurrent non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has fewer studies reported, and the prognostic role of Ki-67 with first-line EGFR-tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) or chemotherapy remains controversial. Methods: A total of 295 patients were tested for EGFR-mutant status in advanced or postoperative-recurrent NSCLC and received first-line EGFR-TKIs or chemotherapy for treatment. Ki-67 expression was retrospectively analyzed by immunohistochemistry. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to calculate survival rates. The multivariate Cox proportional hazards model was used to generate a nomogram. The established nomogram was validated using the calibration plots. Results: The expression levels of Ki-67 were divided into low (<60%, n = 186) and high (≥60%, n = 109) groups, based on the receiver operating characteristic curve. The expression levels of Ki-67 were found to be higher in patients with KRAS mutations when compared to KRAS wildtype, and EGFR wildtype was higher than EGFR mutations. The median overall survival (OS) of the low Ki-67 expression group was significantly longer than that of the high Ki-67 group, no matter in all NSCLC, EGFR mutations, EGFR wildtype, KRAS-mutant status, EGFR-TKIs, or chemotherapy of patients (P < 0.05). Subgroup analysis showed that the KRAS wildtype or EGFR mutations combine with low Ki-67 expression group had the longest median OS than KRAS mutations or EGFR wildtype combine with Ki-67 high expression group (P < 0.05). In the training cohort, the multivariate Cox analysis identified age, serum lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), serum Cyfra211, EGFR mutations, and Ki-67 as independent prognostic factors, and a nomogram was developed based on these covariates. The calibration curve for predicting the 12-, 24-, and 30-month OS showed an optimal agreement between the predicted and actual observed outcomes. Conclusions: The Ki-67 expression-based nomogram can well predict the efficacy of first-line therapy in NSCLC patients with EGFR- or KRAS-mutant status, high expression levels of Ki-67 correlated with a poor prognosis.

Sex-related differences in the efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors in malignancy: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Although disease susceptibility is known to differ between men and women, it is controversial whether the efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors for malignancies also differs between the sexes. We conducted a meta-analysis to explore the impact of sex on immune checkpoint inhibitor treatment outcomes. We searched PubMed, Embase and the Cochrane Library databases from inception to October 1, 2020 for randomized controlled trials of immune checkpoint inhibitors with hazard ratios (HRs) stratified by sex. We calculated the pooled HRs for men and women using the ln(HR), and assessed the heterogeneity between the two estimates through an interaction test. In total, 22,268 patients from 39 randomized controlled trials were included. Immune checkpoint inhibitors yielded better overall survival than conventional agents in both men (HR: 0.75, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.71-0.80) and women (HR: 0.77, 95% CI: 0.70-0.85). Progression-free survival benefits were also observed in both men (HR: 0.64, 95% CI: 0.58-0.70) and women (HR: 0.67, 95% CI: 0.58-0.77) treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors. No sex differences in the response to immune checkpoint inhibitors were found when overall survival and progression-free survival were used as the endpoints.

Development and Validation of a Novel Nomogram for Predicting Tumor-Distant-Metastasis in Patients with Early T1-2 Stage Lung Adenocarcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Distant metastasis in early T1-2 (diameter≤5 cm) stage lung adenocarcinoma (ET-LUAD) patients largely affect treatment strategies in clinical practice. However, the associated mechanism remains unclear and related studies is less. This study aimed to establish and validate a novel nomogram to predict the risk of distant metastasis in ET-LUAD. METHODS: A total of 258 patients diagnosed with ET-LUAD and not receiving any treatment were recruited into this study. The patients were randomly divided into a training cohort and validation cohort in a ratio of 1:2. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to select the most significant predictive risk factors associated with distant metastasis in the training cohort. The established nomogram was validated by the consistency index (C-index), calibration curve, and decision curve analysis (DCA). RESULTS: There were 124 patients with confirmed distant metastasis and 134 patients with non-distant metastases ET-LUAD were enrolled in the study. Multivariate logistic hazards regression analysis identified independent risk factors associated with distant metastasis to include platelet-to-lymphocyte ratios (PLR), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), neural-specific enolase (NSE), carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and cytokeratin 19 fragments (Cyfra211), which were included in the establishment of the nomogram. The nomogram achieved a high consistency (C-index=0.792), good calibration, and high clinical application value in the validation cohort. CONCLUSION: The established nomogram can be used to predict distant metastasis in high-risk ET-LUAD nonmetastasis patients and can also be used by doctors to guide preventive and individualized treatment for ET-LUAD patients.

A miniature multi-pulse series loading Hopkinson bar experimental device based on an electromagnetic launch.

Controlled multi-pulse loading has seldom been applied in classical split Hopkinson pressure bar (SHPB) research. Therefore, a new technique is proposed to realize a controlled multi-pulse loading SHPB experiment, and a miniature multi-pulse series reluctance coil launcher is developed. The micro-multi-pulse series reluctance coil emitter consists of two single-stage reluctance coils and two impact bars. Two loading pulses with the same amplitude are produced by driving the two impact bars to successively impact the incident bar. The distance between the impact bars controls the delay of the second pulse relative to the first one. The delay can be controlled by adjusting the distance between the impact bars and the launch speed. This precise multi-pulse loading technique is easy to implement and can be used to measure and study the dynamic response of various materials in loading SHPB experiments.