Smoking habits are an independent prognostic factor in patients with lung cancer

ObjectivesThe role of tobacco in the pathogenesis of lung cancer (LC) has been clearly established. Based on the epidemiological evidence that smoking may influence LC progression, we investigated the idea that smoking behavior could be associated with overall survival (OS) in this group of patients. MethodsA total of 351 patients with LC (311 men and 40 women) were reviewed. Smoking status was assessed as tobacco users or non-users. To calculate pack-years of smoking, the average of number of cigarettes smoked per day was divided by 20 to give packs per day, and then multiplied by the total number of years of smoking. OS was the main outcome measure. ResultsThe mean follow-up was 3.31.2 years. Kaplan-Meier plots of OS by use of tobacco revealed significant differences by smoking status (log-rank=5.44, P7 pack-years groups (log-rank=4.27, P<0.05). After adjusting for all potential confounders, tobacco smoking retained its independent prognostic significance for OS (hazard ratio=1.53, 95% confidence interval=1.19-2.17, P=0.02). ConclusionsOur data indicate that cigarette smoking is significantly associated with a poor prognosis among patients diagnosed with LC in a dose-dependent manner

Prognostic impact of tumor lymphocytic infiltrates in patients with breast cancer undergoing neoadjuvant chemotherapy

WOS: 000361421900007PubMed ID: 26416041Purpose: The presence of a pronounced tumor lymphocytic infiltrate (TLI) is deemed to reflect the presence of an immunoinflammatory response against the tumor and may thus have prognostic significance. We investigated the prognostic value of TLI detected in pathological specimens collected following neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) in patients with breast cancer. Methods: 100 consecutive patients with breast cancer (mean age 47.8 +/- 11.4 years) who were scheduled to undergo anthracycline- and/or taxane-containing NACT were enrolled. Specimens collected after NACT were scored with the 4-point Klintrup scoring criteria for the presence of TLI. Results: 60 patients had low-grade TLI and 40 high-grade TLI. Comparison of the patient population according to low-grade vs high-grade TLI revealed statistically significant difference both in terms of disease-free survival (DFS) (log rank=4.28, p<0.05) and overall survival (OS) (log rank=3.96, p<0.05), with high-grade TLI patients showing a better prognosis. Multivariate Cox regression analysis identified postoperative tumor size and low-grade TLI as the two main independent adverse prognostic factors. Conclusion: High-grade TLI may interfer with tumor growth and can represent a favorable prognostic factor in women with breast cancer undergoing NACT