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Pulmonary sarcomatoid carcinoma (PSC) is an aggressive and poorly differentiated type of non-small cell lung carcinoma. Because of the rarity of PSC, the efficacy and toxicity of immunotherapy remain unclear. Hence, the aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) for the treatment of advanced PSC. The study cohort was limited to 33 patients with pathologically confirmed PSC treated with ICIs in four hospitals in China from March 2018 to March 2022. Expression of programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) was detected by immunohistochemical analysis. Categorical variables were compared with the Fisher exact test and survival analysis was conducted with the Kaplan-Meier method. Of the 33 PSC patients, 8 (24.2%) received monotherapy with ICIs and 25 (75.8%) received combination therapy with ICIs. The objective response rate (ORR) and disease control rate (DCR) were 36.4% and 78.8%, respectively. The median durations of progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were 6.07 and 21.33 months, respectively. PD-L1 status in 16 available samples was assessed, which included 30.3% PD-L1-positive patients. The ORRs for PD-L1-positive vs. -negative patients were 50.0% and 90.0%, the DCR was 33.3% and 83.3%, and the median PFS was 17.50 and 6.07 months, respectively (p=0.812). The median OS was not reached in PD-L1-positive and -negative patients (p=0.655). The incidence of immune-related adverse (irAEs) was 48.5% and mainly included grade 1 or 2 (39.4%), while the incidence of grade 3 or 4 was 9.1%. Pneumonia (9.1%) and skin rash (9.1%) were the most frequent irAEs. Immunotherapy with ICIs was a promising regimen to improve the prognosis of patients with advanced PSC.

Programmed cell death 1 (PD-1) and one of its ligands, PD-L1, are key immune checkpoint proteins. Evidences showed PD-L1 is an emerging biomarker for immunotherapy by anti-PD-1 and anti-PD-L1 antibody in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). To investigate the association of PD-L1 protein expression with clinicopathological features and its impact on survival outcome, we conducted a meta-analysis.A comprehensive literature search of electronic databases (up to July 10, 2014) was performed. Correlation between PD-L1 expression and clinicopathological features and overall survival (OS) was analyzed by synthesizing the qualified data. Publication biases were examined.A total of 1,550 NSCLC patients from 9 studies were included. The pooled odds ratios (ORs) indicated high PD-L1 expression was associated with poor tumor differentiation [OR =0.53, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.39-0.72, P0.0001]. Whereas, none of other clinicopathological characteristics [gender, smoking status, histological type, invasive depth of tumor, status of lymph node metastasis and tumor node metastasis (TNM) stage] were correlated with PD-L1 expression in current analysis. The combined hazard ratio (HR) for OS showed high expression of PD-L1 impaired the OS in NSCLC (HRpositive/negative =1.47, 95% CI: 1.19-1.83, P=0.0004).Our meta-analysis indicated PD-L1 protein expression in NSCLC was not associated with common clinicopathological characteristics, except tumor differentiation. It was a poor prognostic biomarker for NSCLC. Further research should be performed to investigate the precise clinicopathological and prognostic significance of PD-L1 in NSCLC under uniform testing standard.

Background The management of limited-disease esophageal small cell carcinoma is not well defined, and the role of surgery is still controversial. We aim to determine the optimal treatment strategy in limited-disease of esophageal small cell carcinoma. Methods and findings We conducted a retrospective review of 141 patients with limited-disease esophageal small cell carcinoma from 3 institutions in China who underwent treatment between July 1994 and September 2008, July 1994 and July 2011, and June 2004 and December 2010, respectively. The survival rate was calculated by the Kaplan-Meier method, and the log-rank test was used to assess the survival differences between the groups. Cox proportional hazards model were used to further determine the independent factors impacting overall survival. The median survival time was 16.1 months for the entire cohort of patients, with a 5-year survival rate of 6.7%. The median survival times for surgery alone, surgery combined with chemotherapy, surgery combined with radiotherapy, surgery combined with chemotherapy and radiotherapy, chemotherapy plus radiotherapy, and chemotherapy alone were 18.0 months, 15.0 months, 23.0 months, 25.0 months, 17.1 months, and 6.1 months, respectively; the corresponding 5-year survival rates were 0%, 15.4%, 0%, 38.9%, 0%, and 0%, respectively. For the 105 patients who underwent R0 resection, the median disease-free survival time was 12.0 months, with a 95% confidence interval of 9.5 months to 14.5 months. The multivariate Cox regression analysis demonstrated that advanced pathological staging (p = 0.003), and pure esophageal small cell carcinoma (p = 0.035) were independent factors decreasing overall survival. Conclusions Our data suggested that multidisciplinary modalities achieved encouraging long-term survival in patients with resectable limited-disease of esophageal small cell carcinoma.

Clinical factors and molecular markers can be used to predict the prognosis of gefitinib-treated locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). This study was to identify predictive factors for the response and survival of gefitinib-treated locally advanced or metastatic NSCLC patients in China.Clinical data of 256 gefitinib-treated Chinese NSCLC patients from two existing clinical trials were analyzed. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to determine predictive factors of response and survival.The objective response rate was 24.6%; the disease control rate was 54.7%. Median survival time was 11.43 months (95% CI, 8.64-14.22 months). The 1-year survival rate was 48.0% (95% CI, 41.0%-55.0%). Adenocarcinoma and skin rash were associated with better response. The patients with lower performance status (PS) score (0-1) and those with disease control (complete remission, partial remission, and stable disease) had longer survival when compared with their counterparts.Adenocarcinoma and skin rash are predictors of better response to gefitinib. Low PS score and disease control are predictors of longer survival after treatment of gefitinib.