Prognostic analysis for suspicious radiologic findings (<i>i</i>.<i>e</i>. SPN, LAP and PE) in patients under TAVI evaluation with complete follow-up data (n = 237 patients).

<p>Prognostic analysis for suspicious radiologic findings (<i>i</i>.<i>e</i>. SPN, LAP and PE) in patients under TAVI evaluation with complete follow-up data (n = 237 patients).</p

Baseline characteristics of patients under TAVI evaluation with complete follow-up data (n = 237 patients).

<p>Baseline characteristics of patients under TAVI evaluation with complete follow-up data (n = 237 patients).</p

Prognostic impact of left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) in the full study collective (p = 0.004).

<p>Overall survival of those patients with a LVEF ≥ 45% was increased compared to those patients with a LVEF < 45%.</p

The incidence of incidentally discovered SPN (cases on chest computer tomographies) and the number of diagnosed lung cancer cases.

<p>The incidence of incidentally discovered SPN (cases on chest computer tomographies) and the number of diagnosed lung cancer cases.</p

PD-1 and PD-L1 Expression in NSCLC Indicate a Favorable Prognosis in Defined Subgroups

<div><p>Background</p><p>Immunotherapy can become a crucial therapeutic option to improve prognosis for lung cancer patients. First clinical trials with therapies targeting the programmed cell death receptor PD-1 and its ligand PD-L1 have shown promising results in several solid tumors. However, in lung cancer the diagnostic, prognostic and predictive value of these immunologic factors remains unclear.</p><p>Method</p><p>The impact of both factors was evaluated in a study collective of 321 clinically well-annotated patients with non-small lung cancer (NSCLC) using immunohistochemistry.</p><p>Results</p><p>PD-1 expression by tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) was found in 22%, whereas tumor cell associated PD-L1 expression was observed in 24% of the NSCLC tumors. In Fisher’s exact test a positive correlation was found for PD-L1 and Bcl-xl protein expression (p = 0.013). Interestingly, PD-L1 expression on tumor cells was associated with improved overall survival in pulmonary squamous cell carcinomas (SCC, p = 0.042, log rank test), with adjuvant therapy (p = 0.017), with increased tumor size (pT2-4, p = 0.039) and with positive lymph node status (pN1-3, p = 0.010). These observations were confirmed by multivariate cox regression models.</p><p>Conclusion</p><p>One major finding of our study is the identification of a prognostic implication of PD-L1 in subsets of NSCLC patients with pulmonary SCC, with increased tumor size, with a positive lymph node status and NSCLC patients who received adjuvant therapies. This study provides first data for immune-context related risk stratification of NSCLC patients. Further studies are necessary both to confirm this observation and to evaluate the predictive value of PD-1 and PD-L1 in NSCLC in the context of PD-1 inhibition.</p></div

Diagnostic strategies for incidentally discovered solitary pulmonary nodules (adapted from: Gould et al. 2013).

<p>Diagnostic strategies for incidentally discovered solitary pulmonary nodules (adapted from: Gould et al. 2013).</p

Prognostic impact of solitary pulmonary nodules (SPN), lymphadenopathy (LAP) and pleural effusions (PE) in patients under evaluation for TAVI (n = 237 patients).

<p>Kaplan Meier charts are given for SPN ≥ 5mm (<b>A</b>), for SPN > 8mm (<b>B</b>), for LAP (<b>C</b>) and for PE (<b>D</b>).</p

Correlations of clinical and respiratory parameters with suspicious radiologic findings (<i>i</i>.<i>e</i>. SPN, LAP and PE) for patients under TAVI evaluation with complete follow-up data (n = 237 patients).

<p>Correlations of clinical and respiratory parameters with suspicious radiologic findings (<i>i</i>.<i>e</i>. SPN, LAP and PE) for patients under TAVI evaluation with complete follow-up data (n = 237 patients).</p

Overall survival: Explanatory prognostic factors in a Cox proportional Hazards model for the selected study collective.

<p>Included variables: sex (male (ref.) <i>vs</i>. female), age (< 80 years (ref.) <i>vs</i>. ≥ 80 years), LVEF (as a continuous variable), LVEF (LVEF < 45% (ref.) <i>vs</i>. ≥ 45%); previous malignancy (no previous (ref.) malignancy <i>vs</i>. previous malignancy); SPN (no SPN (ref.) <i>vs</i>. SPN ≥ 5 mm and all others (ref.) <i>vs</i>. SPN > 8 mm), lymphadenopathy (no lymphadenopathy (ref.) <i>vs</i>. lymphadenopathy) and pleural effusions (no pleural effusions (ref.) <i>vs</i>. pleural effusions).</p

Prognostic impact of PD-L1 expression by tumor cells depends on tumor histology.

<p>Whereas for the full study collective (n = 321 patients), no prognostic effect was found, neither for PD-1 (A) nor for PD-L1 (B), patients who received adjuvant therapy (C), patients with pulmonary squamous cell carcinomas (D), patients with pT2-T4 tumors (E) and patients with a positive lymph node status (pN1-3, F) had an increased overall survival.</p