Search

Adoptive immunotherapy (AI) has been applied in the treatment of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients, but the value of postoperative AI has been inconclusive largely as a result of the small number of patients included in each study. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to address this issue for patients with postoperative NSCLC.Pubmed, Embase, Cochrane Library were searched for randomized controlled trials comparing adoptive immunotherapy with control therapies in postoperative NSCLC patients. The primary endpoint was overall survival. Hazard ratio (HR) was estimated and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated using a fixed-effect model.Compared with control therapies, analyses of 4 randomized controlled trials (472 patients) showed a significant benefit of adoptive immunotherapy on survival (hazard ratio [HR] 0.61, 95% CI 0.45-0.84, p = 0.002), and a 39% reduction in the relative risk of death (no evidence of a difference between trials; p = 0.16, I² = 42%). In subgroup analyses by treatment cycles and treatment regimen, significant OS benefit was found in combination therapy of AI with chemotherapy, regardless of whether or not the treatment cycles were more than 10 cycles.Adoptive immunotherapy has the potential to improve overall survival in postoperative NSCLC. The findings suggest this is a valid treatment option for these patients. Further randomized clinical trials are urgently needed.

BACKGROUND: Heparin-induced thrombocytopenia is an immune response mediated by anti-PF4/heparin antibody, which is clinically characterized by thrombocytopenia and thromboembolic events. In this study, a prospective and multi-center clinical investigation 1) determined the positive rate of anti-PF4/heparin antibody in maintenance hemodialysis patients in China, 2) identified the related risk factors, and 3) further explored the effect of the anti-PF4/heparin antibody on bleeding, thromboembolic events, and risk of death in the patients. METHODS: The serum anti-PF4/heparin antibody was measured in 661 patients from nine hemodialysis centers, detected by IgG-specific ELISA and followed by confirmation with excess heparin. Risk factors of these patients were analyzed. Based on a two-year follow-up, the association between the anti-PF4/heparin antibody and bleeding, thromboembolic events, and risk of death in the patients was investigated. RESULTS: 1) The positivity rate of the anti-PF4/heparin antibody in maintenance hemodialysis patients was 5.6%. With diabetes as an independent risk factor, the positivity rate of the anti-PF4/heparin antibody decreased in the patients undergoing weekly dialyses ≥3 times. 2) The positivity rate of the anti-PF4/heparin antibody was not related to the occurrence of clinical thromboembolic events and was not a risk factor for death within two years in maintenance hemodialysis patients. 3) Negativity for the anti-PF4/heparin antibody combined with a reduction of the platelet count or combined with the administration of antiplatelet drugs yielded a significant increase in bleeding events. However, the composite determination of the anti-PF4/heparin antibody and thrombocytopenia, as well as the administration of antiplatelet drugs, was not predictive for the risk of thromboembolic events in the maintenance hemodialysis patients. CONCLUSIONS: A single detection of the anti-PF4/heparin antibody did not predict the occurrence of clinical bleeding, thromboembolic events, or risk of death in the maintenance hemodialysis patients.