Prognostic value of the immunohistochemical score based on four markers in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma

Squamous cell carcinoma of ear and temporal bone: A retrospective study on clinicopathological predictors

BACKGROUND

Ear and temporal bone squamous cell carcinoma (ETBSCC) is a rare and aggressive malignant tumor with minimal clinicopathological studies. The object of this study was to retrospectively evaluate the predictive effect of clinicopathological variables on the 5-year overall survival (OS) rate of ETBSCC patients in a single tertiary medical center in Tianjin, China.

METHODS

A cohort of 44 patients with diagnosed ETBSCC from December 2012 to August 2022 were retrospectively studied. Univariate and multivariate analysis were, respectively, performed for the assessment of clinicopathological predictors, including sex, age, history of chronic suppurative otitis media (CSOM), lesion side, diameter, the choice of surgical approach, parotidectomy, neck dissection, adjuvant therapies, T stage, lymph node metastasis, tumor grade, margin, perineural invasion (PNI), and Ki-67 index.

RESULTS

Seventeen females and 27 males were included, with the mean age of 65 years old, ranging from 36 to 89 years. The 5-year OS rate was 43% (mean 51 months, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 39-64). Significant prediction of a worse prognosis for 5-year OS rate was observed under univariate analysis for advanced T stage, positive margin, identified PNI, and higher Ki-67 index, respectively. Advanced T stage was confirmed to be an independent prognostic factor strongly affecting 5-year OS rate among this cohort of patients using a multivariate cox proportional hazard model.

CONCLUSION

We found that clinicopathological parameters, especially postoperative pathological parameters, play a critical role in predicting the prognosis of ETBSCC patients.

Primary lung adenocarcinoma harboring upper mediastinal lymphatic skip metastasis of cervical squamous cell carcinoma: A case report and literature review

The upper mediastinal lymph nodes are a rare site of metastasis in early-stage cervical cancer, but they are a common site of metastasis in lung cancer. Notably, standard approaches for identifying the source of metastasis and subsequent treatment are currently lacking. The present study describes the case of a patient with primary lung adenocarcinoma harboring upper mediastinal lymphatic skip metastasis from cervical squamous cell carcinoma 2 years after a radical hysterectomy. During video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery, it was indicated that the patient had a tendency for metastasis to the upper mediastinal lymph nodes from the lung tumor. Pathological examination confirmed the presence of metastasis; however, it was confirmed to originate from cervical carcinoma, rather than lung adenocarcinoma. In conclusion, for patients with lung cancer and concurrent malignancies, metastatic lymph nodes discovered during surgery may originate from the previous malignancy. Surgical management of oligometastatic lymph nodes in the mediastinum can be a potential treatment option, albeit one that may necessitate the integration of adjuvant treatment modalities as warranted by the individual case.

A novel nomogram model based on Ki-67 characteristic expression to predict prognosis in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma

Objectives

This study aimed to examine Ki-67's correlation with clinicopathological characteristics of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), evaluate its prognostic significance, and develop a Ki-67 integrated prognostic model.

Methods

The retrospective study included 764 HNSCC patients hospitalized from 2012 to 2022. Data were sourced from medical records and immunohistochemical analysis of surgical specimens.

Results

Ki-67 expression was significantly associated with sex, pathological grade, clinical stage, and metastasis, but not with age or recurrence. Higher Ki-67 levels were linked to poorer prognosis, as indicated by Kaplan-Meier survival analysis. Utilizing a Cox proportional hazards model, four prognostic factors were identified: age, recurrence, metastasis, and Ki-67 expression. These factors were used to construct a prognostic model and a nomogram. The model's predictive accuracy was confirmed by a high concordance index and a reliable calibration curve.

Conclusion

Ki-67 expression in HNSCC patients correlates with several clinicopathological features and serves as a negative prognostic marker. A prognostic model incorporating Ki-67 was successfully developed, offering a new tool for patient prognosis assessment in HNSCC.

Novel application of the ferroptosis-related genes risk model associated with disulfidptosis in hepatocellular carcinoma prognosis and immune infiltration

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) stands as the prevailing manifestation of primary liver cancer and continues to pose a formidable challenge to human well-being and longevity, owing to its elevated incidence and mortality rates. Nevertheless, the quest for reliable predictive biomarkers for HCC remains ongoing. Recent research has demonstrated a close correlation between ferroptosis and disulfidptosis, two cellular processes, and cancer prognosis, suggesting their potential as predictive factors for HCC. In this study, we employed a combination of bioinformatics algorithms and machine learning techniques, leveraging RNA sequencing data, mutation profiles, and clinical data from HCC samples in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO), and the International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) databases, to develop a risk prognosis model based on genes associated with ferroptosis and disulfidptosis. We conducted an unsupervised clustering analysis, calculating a risk score (RS) to predict the prognosis of HCC using these genes. Clustering analysis revealed two distinct HCC clusters, each characterized by significantly different prognostic and immune features. The median RS stratified HCC samples in the TCGA, GEO, and ICGC cohorts into high-and low-risk groups. Importantly, RS emerged as an independent prognostic factor in all three cohorts, with the high-risk group demonstrating poorer prognosis and a more active immunosuppressive microenvironment. Additionally, the high-risk group exhibited higher expression levels of tumor mutation burden (TMB), immune checkpoints (ICs), and human leukocyte antigen (HLA), suggesting a heightened responsiveness to immunotherapy. A cancer stem cell infiltration analysis revealed a higher similarity between tumor cells and stem cells in the high-risk group. Furthermore, drug sensitivity analysis highlighted significant differences in response to antitumor drugs between the two risk groups. In summary, our risk prognostic model, constructed based on ferroptosis-related genes associated with disulfidptosis, effectively predicts HCC prognosis. These findings hold potential implications for patient stratification and clinical decision-making, offering valuable theoretical insights in this field.