Search

Although the alterations of lipid profile in lung cancer have been documented, the prognostic value of serum HDL-C level and its correlation with inflammation in NSCLC remain unknown.Levels of preoperative serum lipid concentrations (including HDL-C, LDL-C, TC, and TG) and the inflammatory biomarker C-reactive protein level (CRP) were retrospectively analyzed in 228 patients with NSCLC and in 300 healthy controls. The serum lipid levels in these two populations were compared. Univariate and multivariate cox hazards analyses were performed to investigate the prognostic value of serum lipid levels in NSCLC. The correlation between CRP and lipid profile were also analyzed.Compared with those in normal controls, the serum HDL-C, LDL-C, and TC levels were statistically decreased and the TG levels were significantly increased in 228 NSCLC patients. The patients with decreased levels of HDL-C had significantly lower 5-year survival rates than those with normal HDL-C, not only in the whole NSCLC cohort but also in the subgroups stratified according to the disease T, N classifications, and metastasis, whereas the other lipid components were not independent prognostic factors for NSCLC. Of the lipid components, a lower HDL-C level was observed more often in patients with a high CRP level than in those with a normal CRP level. Spearman's rank correlation analysis revealed that the HDL-C level presented a negative correlation with the CRP level (r = -0.360, p

Among the many anomalies researchers have uncovered in financial markets is Stein's finding that implied volatilities (IVs) from long-term options are too sensitive to short-run volatility shocks. Option investors overreact to a spike in implied volatility for nearby contracts, and volatilities rise across the maturity spectrum, in contradiction to the smoothing effect when a mean-reverting time series is averaged over a long period. Lehnert, Lin, and Martelin have found a plausible explanation in the fact that mean-reversion of volatility estimated from stock returns is an empirical estimate, while implied volatilities are risk-neutralized values. They show that risk-neutral mean reversion is much slower than in the empirical process. Moreover, it depends on investors' risk aversion, so that the "overreaction" effect caused by sluggish reversion toward long-run average volatility should be greatest when investors are most averse to risk. They then demonstrate that the theoretical argument is supported by the data. Long-maturity options show significant overreaction to short-maturity IV changes, but the effect is much stronger during periods of market upset. The options market appears to be more rational than Stein's results suggest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]