Prognostic factors in advanced pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma patients-receiving second-line treatment: a single institution experience.

BACKGROUND: Second-line (2L) treatments for advanced pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) achieve a modest benefit at the expense of potential toxicity. In the absence of predictive factors of response, the identification of prognostic factors could help in the therapeutic decisions-making. The purpose of this study was to assess the prognostic factors associated with shorter survival in patients with advanced PDAC who received 2L treatment. METHODS: We conducted a single institution retrospective study, which included all patients with advanced PDAC who received 2L treatment between September 2006 and February 2020 at La Paz University Hospital, Madrid (Spain). Significant variables in the logistic regression model were used to create a prognostic score. RESULTS: We included 108 patients. The median overall survival (OS) was 5.10 months (95%CI 4.02-6.17). In the multivariate analysis, time to progression (TTP) shorter than 4 months after first-line treatment (OR 4.53 [95%CI 1.28-16.00] p = 0.01), neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) greater than 3 at the beginning of 2L (OR 9.07 [95%CI 1.82-45.16] p = 0.01) and CA-19.9 level higher than the upper limit of normal at the beginning of 2L (OR 7.83 [95%CI 1.30-49.97] p = 0.02) were independently associated with OS shorter than 3 months. The prognostic score classified patients into three prognostic groups (good, intermediate and poor) with significant differences in OS (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: TTP shorter than 4 months after first-line treatment, NLR greater than 3 and CA-19.9 level higher than the upper limit of normal at the beginning of 2L were associated with shorter overall survival. We developed a prognostic score that classifies patients with advanced PDAC into three prognostic groups after progression to the first-line. This score could help in the decision-making for 2L treatment.

Incidence of venous thromboembolic events in cancer patients receiving immunotherapy: a single-institution experience.

BACKGROUND: Cancer and cancer therapies have been associated with an increased incidence of venous thromboembolic events (VTE). However, the incidence of VTE in patients on immunotherapy has not been well characterized. The aim of this study was to assess the incidence of VTE in cancer patients receiving immunotherapy and ascertain its prognostic utility. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We conducted a single-institution retrospective study, including all cancer patients treated with anti-Programmed cell Death 1 (PD-1), anti-Programmed cell Death Ligand-1 (PD-L1), anti-Cytotoxic T-Lymphocyte-Associated Protein 4 (CTLA4), a combination of anti-PD-1/anti-PD-L1 and anti-CTLA4 or a combination including any of these drugs with chemotherapy, antiangiogenic agents or both between June 2013 and April 2019 at La Paz University Hospital, Madrid (Spain). RESULTS: We selected 229 patients. VTE occurred in 16 of 229 patients (7%). VTE occurred more frequently in patients with lung cancer followed by melanoma. Female sex and melanoma were independently associated with an increased risk of VTE. 12 of 16 VTE (75%) were symptomatic. Progressive disease to immunotherapy [HR 31.60 (95% CI 11.44-87.22), p = 0.00], lung cancer [HR 2.55 (95% CI 1.34-4.86), p = 0.00] and melanoma [HR 2.42 (1.20-4.86), p = 0.01] were independently associated with shorter OS. VTE occurrence was not independently associated with shorter OS [HR 1.33 (95% CI 0.63-2.80), p = 0.44]. CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of VTE in cancer patients receiving immunotherapy in our study appeared to be similar to the incidence previously reported in other series of cancer patients treated with systemic therapies. VTE occurrence did not correlate with the prognosis. Further and prospective studies are needed to derive definitive conclusions.

Prognostic value of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio in advanced cancer patients receiving immunotherapy.

BACKGROUND: The prognostic value of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) has been extensively studied in cancer patients. However, the performance of NLR as an early marker of efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) is still understudied. We studied the utility of NLR at baseline (bNLR), before the second dose of immunotherapy (NLR2) and the NLR trend for predicting efficacy outcomes. METHODS: We included all patients with advanced cancer treated with ICI from June 2013 to April 2019 at La Paz University Hospital, Madrid (Spain). We examined bNLR, NLR2 and NLR trend and explored the association with progression-free survival (PFS) at 6 months, median PFS and overall survival (OS). RESULTS: We included 211 patients. PFS and OS were significantly longer in the low bNLR group than in the high bNLR group [HR 0.71 (95% CI 0.60-0.84) and HR: 0.66 (95% CI 0.55-0.79), respectively]. Regarding NLR2, patients with low NLR2 had significantly longer PFS and OS than patients with high NLR2 [HR 0.67 (95% CI 0.57-0.79) and HR: 0.60 (95% CI 0.50-0.72), respectively]. Finally, for NLR trend, PFS and OS for patients with NLR trend < 1 were significantly longer than those patients with NLR trend ≥ 1 [HR 0.59 (95% CI 0.43-0.82) and HR 0.63 (95% CI 0.44-0.90), respectively]. At the multivariate analysis for PFS and OS, bNLR, NLR2 and NLR trend were all independent prognostic factors for PFS and OS. CONCLUSIONS: bNLR, NLR2 and NLR trends are independent prognostic factors for survival in patients on immunotherapy. The dynamics of NLR in patients on immunotherapy is a promising marker that needs further investigation.

Prognostic value of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio and other inflammatory markers in patients with high-risk soft tissue sarcomas.

BACKGROUND: Soft tissue sarcomas (STS) have a high risk of relapse in spite of the use of (neo)adjuvant chemotherapy. In this context, looking for new prognostic biomarkers is an interesting field of research. Our aim is to analyze the prognostic impact of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and other serum markers in patients with STS who received chemotherapy with curative intent. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is a retrospective observational study. We included all patients with STS (primary tumor, local recurrence or resected metastatic disease) treated with high-dose ifosfamide and epirubicin with curative intent from January 2007 to December 2018. The pretreatment NLR and other serum markers were calculated, selecting the median as the cut-off value for the survival and multivariate analysis. RESULTS: Seventy-nine patients were included. Median NLR, platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) and lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio (LMR) were 2.83, 174.05 and 3.25, respectively. Median progression-free survival (PFS) was significantly longer in patients with low NLR [not reached (NR) vs 21, 92 months, P < 0.01]. No significant differences were found for PFS regarding PLR or LMR. For overall survival (OS), a significant survival advantage was also found for patients with low NLR (NR vs 65.45 months, P = 0.01), without differences for PLR or LMR. In multivariate analysis, NLR remains an independent prognostic factor for PFS. CONCLUSION: In our cohort, low NLR was significantly associated with a longer PFS and OS, and is consolidated as an independent prognostic factor.