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OBJECTIVE ROS1 positivity is seen in 1-2% of patients with metastatic lung cancer. Targeted drugs such as crizotinib, lorlatinib, and entrectinib are used in the treatment. We aimed to evaluate the efficacy of crizotinib and the prognosis of patients with ROS1 fusion-positive metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in this study. METHODS We analyzed data of the advanced NSCLC patients with ROS1 mutation retrospectively. We determined the clinicopathological features of the patients. We evaluated the parameters affecting the prognosis with survival analyzes. RESULTS The research enlisted the participation of 21 patients. Median progression-free survival with crizotinib treatment was found 26.1 (95% Confidence interval [CI], 8.1-44.1) months. Median overall survival was 35.2 (95% CI, 13.5-56.9) months. Treatment-related Grade 1-2 adverse effects were observed in 9 (42.9%) patients and Grade 3-4 adverse effects were detected in 1 (4.8%) patient. Clinicopathological parameters affecting survival were evaluated; age (p=0.02) and liver metastasis (p=0.03) were defined as prognostic parameters. ROS1 positivity rate (p=0.08) was not found to be a prognostic factor. CONCLUSION In patients with ROS1 fusion-positive metastatic NSCLC, crizotinib was shown to be both efficacious and safe. We also found that in this patient group, age and the existence of liver metastases are prognostic factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE The aim of the present study was to evaluate the impact of conventional hemogram parameters as a biomarker in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) patients; and the clinical importance of the difference after chemotherapy. METHODS We have evaluated the patients with advanced-stage EOC who diagnosed between January 2012 and December 2017. RESULTS Elevated levels of neutrophils, neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR), and platelet/lymphocyte ratio at the time of diagnosis were significantly associated with excess amount of ascites. Lower levels of neutrophils and hemoglobin (HGB); and higher levels of red cell distribution width (RDW), and RDW/HGB ratio were predictors of platinum-sensitivity. In univariate analysis, while decreased mean platelet volume (MPV) was associated with longer disease free survival (DFS); elevated RDW, decreased neutrophils, MPV, and NLR were effective for better overall survival (OS). In multivariate analysis, platinum sensitivity and MPV were significantly associated with DFS and OS. Importantly, patients with persistently low MPV group after chemotherapy had the best OS; while persistently high MPV group had the worst OS. CONCLUSION MPV is a marker that can be easily evaluated during complete blood counts, and might be a promising and practical prognostic biomarker in the field of EOC. Hemogram parameters are found useful to predict disease properties and survival in EOC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Novel biomarkers are needed to predict the effectiveness of the treatment of presurgical neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) in breast cancer (BC). OBJECTIVE: This is an exploratory study to assess the impact of 3 cancer-related long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) (H19, MALAT1 and GA5) in blood plasma of patients with BC in predicting the response to NAC. METHODS: The plasma levels of RNAs were relatively measured by quantitative PCR at baseline, and at the end of the fourth cycle of NAC in patients with locally advanced BC. RESULTS: Only H19 was associated with patients' characteristics, and with the response to NAC. Higher plasma expression of H19 was associated with younger age at diagnosis, triple negative tumors, and Ki-67 index. Patients with a pathological complete response (20%) had lower pre-therapeutic levels of H19 compared with the non-complete responders (relative levels 0.1 vs 0.2, respectively, P : 0.04). In addition, the patients with higher degree of downstaging of initial tumors had lower baseline levels of H19 among non-complete responders. CONCLUSION: Our study reveals that H19, but not MALAT1 and GAS5, may be a useful marker of response to NAC in BC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]