Appearance characteristics of incision, satisfaction with the aesthetic effect, and quality of life in of thyroid cancer patients after thyroidectomy.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to assess the correlation between satisfaction with aesthetic effect (SAE) and quality of life (QoL) in thyroid cancer patients after thyroidectomy and identify the impact of appearance characteristics of scars on SAE. METHODS: This prospective, single-centre, cross-sectional study from November 2018 to June 2019 enrolled 285 thyroid cancer patients three months after their thyroidectomy. The European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire Core 30 was used to assess QoL 3 months after thyroidectomy, while the Patient Scar Assessment Scale (PSAS) was used to assess the SAE of patients. RESULTS: The mean PSAS score was 35.00, and the mean QoL score was 69.96. Correlation analysis demonstrated that PSAS was negatively correlated with QoL score. Multivariate logistic regression analysis demonstrated that age, marital status, radiotherapy, surgery type, neurological deficits, and PSAS were independent risk factors with decreased QoL. Furthermore, correlation analysis showed that scar colour, stiffness, thickness, irregularity and length were positively correlated with poor PSAS. Scar irregularity and length were independent risk factors with poor PSAS. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated that scar irregularity and length were independent risk factors with SAE, and poor SAE was correlated with decreased QoL in thyroid cancer patients after thyroidectomy.

Prognostic role of high neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio in breast cancer patients receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy: Meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: We aimed to evaluate the correlation of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) with pathological response, disease-free survival (DFS), and overall survival (OS) in patients with breast cancer and under neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC). MATERIALS AND METHODS: We performed a systematical search using Cochrane Library, ScienceDirect, PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science up to May 2018. On the basis of the data directly obtained from the available studies, the odds ratios (ORs) and their 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) were pooled on the basis of higher or lower NLR levels. RESULTS: The meta-analysis showed that high NLR was significantly associated with poor NAC response (OR = 2.27, 95% CI: 1.46-3.53, P < .001) but not with the DFS (OR = 1.18, 95% CI: 0.78-1.78, P = .435) and OS (OR = 2.781, 95% CI: 0.54-14.32, P = .221). CONCLUSION: Although high NLR was significantly associated with poor pathological response, we were unable to demonstrate the prognostic value of NLR for DFS and OS in patients with breast cancer who were undergoing NAC.

Risk Factors of Deterioration in Quality of Life Scores in Thyroid Cancer Patients After Thyroidectomy.

OBJECTIVE: Despite the expectation of normal life expectancy for thyroid cancer, there are concerns about the decreased quality of life (QoL). The present study investigated the potential risk factors of deterioration in QoL scores in thyroid cancer patients after thyroidectomy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 286 patients who were diagnosed with thyroid cancer after thyroidectomy were involved in this prospective, single-center, observational study from November 2018 to June 2019. The European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire Core 30 was used to assess the QoL 3 months after thyroidectomy. We investigated the effects of demographics (age, gender, education, marital status, area of residence, and annual mean income), tumor characteristics (histology, clinical stage, presence of metastasis, surgery type, and radiotherapy), and neurological deficits induced by recurrent nerve or superior laryngeal injury on QoL. RESULTS: The mean overall QoL in thyroid cancer survivors was 65.93 ±9.00 (on a scale of 0-100, where 100 was the best). Multivariate regression analysis confirmed that clinical stage (P < 0.010), surgery type (P < 0.001), histology (P < 0.001), neurological deficits (P < 0.001), and marital status (P < 0.001) were independent risk factors for decreased QoL 3 months after thyroidectomy. CONCLUSION: Our study indicated that clinical stage, surgery type, histology, neurological deficits, and marital status were independent risk factors for decreased QoL at 3 months after thyroidectomy. Further exploration and validation of these findings in larger prospective studies are warranted.

Diffuse optical spectroscopy for monitoring the responses of patients with breast cancer to neoadjuvant chemotherapy: A meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to investigate the potential of diffuse optical spectroscopy (DOT) for monitoring the responses of patients with breast cancer to neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC). METHODS: We searched PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, and Web of Science for relevant studies. Data were extracted for pooled analysis, heterogeneity testing, threshold effect testing, sensitivity analysis, publication bias analysis, and subgroup analysis. RESULTS: The pooled meta-analysis of the 10 eligible studies that included 422 patients indicated the high performance of DOT for monitoring total patient responses to NAC (OR = 14.78, 95% CI: 8.23-26.54, P < .001), with low significant heterogeneity (I = 7.2%, P = .375). DOT possessed an area under the curve of 0.84 (95% CI: 0.81-0.87) to distinguish total patient responses to NAC. Subgroup analysis showed that the pooled sensitivity of DOT for monitoring pathologic complete response to NAC was 87%, and the pooled specificity was 70%. Meanwhile, the pooled sensitivity of DOT for monitoring pathologic complete and partial responses to NAC was 82%, and the pooled specificity was 82%. Although Begg's funnel plot (P = .049) indicated the presence of publication bias among the included studies, trim-and-fill method verified the stability of the pooled outcomes. CONCLUSION: Our meta-analysis of available published data indicated that DOT can be potentially used to predict and monitor patient responses to NAC. A larger study population is needed to fully assess the use of DOT for guiding therapies and predicting responses of individual subjects to NAC.