Expression levels of VEGF and Her-2, levels of T-regulatory (Treg) cells, levels of CD3+ cells, and ratios of Th (CD4+ T cells)/Tr (Treg) cells were compared between stage I, II, III, and IV breast cancer patients (n = 120) prior to chemotherapy and healthy women (n = 30). Cells from peripheral blood were counted by flow cytometry, Her-2 and VEGF expression was detected by pathological examination, and Her-2 was detected by FISH. Breast cancer patients had more Treg cells and a lower ratio of Th/Tr cells than the healthy women. Stage IV breast cancer patients had more Treg cells and a lower ratio of Th/Tr cells than stage I, II, or III breast cancer patients. Patients positive for VEGF had a lower ratio of Th/Tr cells compared with patients negative for VEGF, and those positive for both VEGF and Her-2 also had a lower ratio of Th/Tr cells compared with patients not positive for both VEGF and Her-2. The decreased Th/Tr cells ratio indicates impaired immune function, suggesting that the stage IV breast cancer and the Her-2/VEGF-positive breast cancer patients have lower immune function.

This study aims to investigate the efficacy of bevacizumab-combined chemotherapy (BCC) in Chinese stage IV colorectal cancer (CRC), and analyze the relationship between clinicopathological features with survival. Patients with stage IV CRC treated with BCC were analyzed retrospectively. 217 metastatic CRC (mCRC) patients were collected, out of which79 were right-sided CRCs and 138 were left-sided ones. Patients with Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status ≤2, single agent chemotherapy, poor/mucous/signet ring cell component, second-and further-line of bevacizumab administration, multiple metastasis sites had comparatively worse survival. Among 141 patients with known KRAS status, 55 patients harbored KRAS mutation and 86 had wild type KRAS. The ORR and DCR were 41.9% and 78.9%, respectively, in patients with wild type KRAS, while ORR and DCR was 38.7% and 77.9%, respectively, in patients with KRAS mutation. The median PFS of patients with wild type and mutant KRAS were 8.38, and9.59 months, respectively; whereas the OS was 23.00 and 21.26 months, respectively for mCRC patients with wild-type and mutant KRAS. Cumulatively, our study indicated that BCC was effective and beneficial for Chinese stage IV CRC patients. KRAS mutation status and tumor location were not a prognostic factor for survival.

BackgroundThe highly heterogeneous characteristics of GC may limit the accuracy of a single biomarker for screening populations benefiting from immunotherapy. However, the combination of multiple indicators can provide more directed information for the detection of potential immune benefit subgroups. At present, there are no recognized complex indexes to identify advanced GC (AGC) in patients who likely benefited from immunotherapy. The objective of this research is to explore whether the composite biomarker of derived neutrophil–lymphocyte ratio (dNLR) and platelet–lymphocyte ratio (PLR) can be used as a reliable prognostic factor for the survival of AGC patients receiving immunotherapy.MethodsFrom December 2014 to May 2021, a total 238 AGC patients at a single Center were included in this retrospective cohort research study. The cutoff value of dNLR was obtained by the ROC curves to predict the disease progression rate at the 8th month and the cutoff value of PLR was estimated by the median value. The cutoff values of dNLR and PLR were 1.95 and 163.63, respectively. The high levels of dNLR (≥1.95) and PLR (≥163.63) were considered to be risk factors. Based on these two risk factors, patients were categorized into 3 groups: the risk factor number for the “good” group was 0, that for the “intermediate” group was 1, and that for the “poor” group was 2. The subjects were divided into two groups: dNLR/PLR-good and dNLR/PLR-intermediate/poor.ResultsOf the 238 patients, the median overall survival (mOS) and progression-free survival (mPFS) were 12.5 and 4.7 months, respectively. Multivariate analysis revealed that the good dNLR/PLR group was independently associated with better prognosis. The intermediate/poor dNLR/PLR group was independently correlated with an over 1.4 times greater risk of disease progression (4.1 months vs. 5.5 months; p = 0.016) and an over 1.54 times greater risk of death (11.1 months vs. 26.3 months; p = 0.033) than the good dNLR/PLR group. However, no clear differences in the disease control rate (DCR) and overall response rate (ORR) were observed between the intermediate/poor dNLR/PLR group and the good dNLR/PLR group (51.5% vs. 56.3%, 26.3% vs. 29.6%; p = 0.494, p = 0.609).ConclusionOur study firstly verifies that the composite biomarker of dNLR and PLR is an independent prognostic factor affecting survival of advanced AGC patients receiving immunotherapy. It may be difficult for patients with the intermediate/poor dNLR/PLR group to benefit from immunotherapy.

Background The application of immunotherapy is gradually increasing in advanced gastric cancer (AGC), but only some patients could benefit from it. Validated biomarkers can screen out the beneficiaries. The objective of this research is to explore the predictive value of albumin and neutrophil combined prognostic grade ( ANPG) in AGC patients receiving immunotherapy. Methods A total number of 268 AGC patients were included. The cut-off value of albumin was 38 g/L obtained by the median value, and neutrophil was 4.16 g/L estimated by the average value. The high levels of albumin (≥38 g/L) and neutrophil (≥4.16 g/L) were considered to be two risk factors for ANPG. Based on these two risk factors, patients were categorized into 3 groups：the risk factor number for the "good" group was 0, for the "intermediate" group was 1, and for the "poor" group was 2. Results Patients with the good ANPG was related to longer progression free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS), compared to those with the intermediate and the poor ANPG (5.6 months vs 5.3 months vs 3.4 months, 17.8 months vs 11.8 months vs 8.2 months). The poor group was independently correlated with an over 1.9 times risk of disease progression (HR=1.901; 95% CI, 1.314-2.750; P=0.001) and an over 2 times risk of death (HR=2.003; 95% CI, 1.306-3.072; P=0.001) than the good group. The intermediate group was independently correlated with an over 1.3 times risk of disease progression (HR=1.385; 95% CI, 1.004-1.911; P=0.048) and an over 1.4 times risk of death (HR=1.484; 95% CI, 1.046-2.106; P=0.027) than the good group. Conclusion Our study verifies, for the first time, that ANPG is an independent factor affecting survival of AGC patients receiving immunotherapy. Patients with the good ANPG could benefit from immunotherapy.