Background This study aimed to identify potential predictive factors for the survival of advanced non small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients undergoing first-line platinum-based chemotherapy. Methods A total of 270 advanced NSCLC patients who underwent first-line platinum-based chemotherapy from June, 2011 to June, 2015 were enrolled. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was used to evaluate the predictive value of the albumin-to-fibrinogen ratio (AFR) for overall survival (OS). The predictive factors for survival were evaluated by univariate and multivariate analyses via the Cox proportional hazards regression model. The OS and progression free survival (PFS) results were determined via the Kaplan–Meier method using the log-rank analysis. Results Based on the results of the ROC curve analysis, 8.02 was accepted as the cut-off AFR value for OS. The metastasis stage (M0 vs M1a/b, HR: 1.73, 95% CI: 1.15–2.59, P = 0.020) and AFR (≤8.02 vs > 8.02, HR: 1.80, 95% CI: 1.09–2.78, P = 0.025) were two independent risk factors for PFS by multivariate Cox regression analysis. The AFR (≤8.02 vs > 8.02, HR: 1.79, 95% CI: 1.11–2.59, P = 0.029) was a significant predictive factor for OS in advanced NSCLC patients. The PFS ( P = 0.008) and OS ( P = 0.003) in the high AFR group were significantly improved compared with those in the low AFR group via the Kaplan–Meier method using the log-rank analysis. Conclusions The AFR could be a potential effective predictive factor for the survival in advanced NSCLC patients undergoing first-line platinum-based chemotherapy.

The present meta-analysis suggested that serum measurement of TALP, BALP, ICTP and NTX might be helpful in detecting BM in lung cancer.

Background. Severe pneumonia (SP) has been widely accepted as a major cause for acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), and the development of ARDS is significantly associated with increased mortality. This study aimed to identify potential predictors for ARDS development in patients with SP. Methods. Eligible SP patients at admission from January 2013 to June 2017 were prospectively enrolled, and ARDS development within hospital stay was identified. Risk factors for ARDS development in SP patients were analyzed by univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis with the area under the curve (AUC) was performed for the predictive value of endocan for ARDS development. Results. A total of 145 SP patients were eventually enrolled into the final analysis, of which 37 developed ARDS during the hospital stay. Our final multivariate logistic regression analysis suggested plasma endocan expression as the only independent risk factor for ARDS development in SP patients (OR: 1.57, 95% CI: 1.14–2.25, P=0.021). ROC curve analysis of plasma endocan resulted in an AUC of 0.754, 95% CI of 0.642–0.866, a cutoff value of 11.6 ng/mL, a sensitivity of 78.7%, and a specificity of 70.3%, respectively (P<0.01). Conclusions. Endocan expression at ICU admission is a reliable predictive factor in predicting ARDS in patients with SP.

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Background: The study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of invasivenoninvasive sequential ventilation versus invasive ventilation in the treatment of Acute Exacerbation of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (AECOPD). Method: PubMed, Cochrane, Embase, Wanfang, CNKI, VIP database were searched by the index words to identify the qualified RCTs, and relevant literature sources were also searched. The latest research was conducted in June 2017. Relative Risks (RR), and Mean Difference (MD) along with 95% confidence interval (95% CI) were used to analyze the main outcomes. Result: Twenty-nine RCTs were involved in this analysis of 1061 patients in the invasivenoninvasive sequential ventilation group (In-non group) and 1074 patients in the invasive ventilation group (In group). The results indicated that compared with the invasive ventilation, invasive-noninvasive sequential ventilation would significantly decrease the incidence of VAP (RR:0.20, 95%CI: 0.16-0.26), mortality (RR:0.38, 95%CI: 0.26-0.55), reintubation (RR:0.39, 95%CI: 0.27-0.55); and statistically reduced the duration of invasive ventilation (MD:-9.23, 95%CI: -10.65, -7.82), the total duration of mechanical ventilation (MD:-4.91, 95%CI: -5.99, -3.83), and the length of stay in the ICU (MD:-5.10, 95%CI: -5.43, -4.76). Conclusion: The results demonstrated that the application of noninvasive sequential ventilation after invasive ventilation at the pulmonary infection control window has a significant influence on VAP incidence, mortality, and the length of stay in the ICU, but further well-designed, adequately powered RCTs are required to validate the conclusion.