Effectiveness of neoadjuvant chemotherapy on the survival outcomes of patients with resectable non-small-cell lung cancer: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

The Benefit of Exercise in Patients With Cancer Who Are Receiving Chemotherapy: A Systematic Review and Network Meta-Analysis

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to determine which therapeutic exercise-based intervention is most effective in improving cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) in patients with cancer receiving chemotherapy.

METHODS

The authors conducted a systematic review with network meta-analysis in MEDLINE (PubMed), Embase, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Scopus, SPORTDiscus, and Web of Science. The authors employed the Physiotherapy Evidence Database and the Revised Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool for Randomized Trials to assess the methodological quality and risk of bias, respectively.

RESULTS

A total of 27 studies were included. Data were pooled using a random-effects model. Adding aerobic training (moderate to high intensity), with or without resistance training, to usual care versus usual care was statistically significant, with a small beneficial effect (aerobic training: standardized mean difference = 0.46; 95% CI= 0.17 to 0.75; aerobic and resistance training: standardized mean difference = 0.26; 95% CI = 0.00 to 0.52) for peak oxygen consumption at the postintervention assessment.

CONCLUSION

Therapeutic exercise-based interventions to improve short-term CRF in patients with cancer receiving chemotherapy should include moderate- to high-intensity aerobic exercise, with or without resistance training.

IMPACT

It is important to improve CRF in the oncological population due to its relationship with mortality. The results showed the benefit of exercise to improve cardiorespiratory fitness in the oncology population receiving chemotherapy treatment.

The optimal neoadjuvant regimen for nonsmall cell lung cancer: A meta-analysis

OBJECTIVE

To compare the efficacy and complications of different neoadjuvant to determine the optimal regimens for nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients.

METHODS

A systematic search of the Web of Science, and PubMed databases was conducted through June 3, 2021, reporting a comparison of chemotherapy, chemoradiotherapy, and immunotherapy.

RESULTS

Of 3462 studies, 25 were considered for evidence synthesis. 1035 patients who received chemotherapy or radiotherapy before surgery did not prolong the overall survival (OS) compared with 1038 patients who received surgery alone (hazard ratio [HR] 1.13, 95% CI 1·00-1·28, P = 0·05). 1192 patients received chemoradiotherapy and 864 patients received chemotherapy or radiotherapy; chemoradiotherapy prolonged the OS compared with chemotherapy (HR 0.52, 95% CI 0·29 to 0.95, P = .03). Compared with 110 patients who received other therapy, 93 patients who received immunotherapy had prolonged the OS (HR 1.56, 95% CI 1·08-2·25, P = .02). Chemoradiotherapy increased the pathological response rate (HR 1.68, 95% CI 1·33-2·12, P < .0001), and grade 3 and 4 adverse effects were not increased (HR 5.90, 95% CI 0.88 to 39.60, P = .007). Immunotherapy increased the pathological response (HR 2.79, 95% CI 1·71-4·54, P < .0001), with no significant effects on grades 3 and 4 adverse(HR 0.71, 95% CI 0·19-2·64, P = .61).

CONCLUSION

Our data showed that chemotherapy may prolong OS and PFS, but not statistically significant; however, the combination of chemotherapy and radiation did show an advantage, and immunotherapy may be also the choice for neoadjuvant therapy.

Tumor glycolytic heterogeneity improves detection of regional nodal metastasis in patients with lung adenocarcinoma

OBJECTIVE

The diagnostic performance of ¹⁸F-FDG PET for detecting regional lymph node metastasis in resectable lung cancer is variable, and its sensitivity for adenocarcinoma is even lower. We aimed to evaluate the value of ¹⁸F-FDG PET-derived features in predicting pathological lymph node metastasis in patients with lung adenocarcinoma.

METHODS

We retrospectively analyzed pretreatment ¹⁸F-FDG PET-derived features of 126 lung adenocarcinoma patients who underwent curative surgery. A logistic regression model was used to analyze the association between study variables and pathological regional lymph node status obtained from the curative surgery. Furthermore, Cox regression analysis was used to test the effect of the study variables on survival outcomes, including disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS).

RESULTS

The primary tumor entropy (OR = 1.7, p = 0.014) and visual interpretation of regional nodes via ¹⁸F-FDG PET (OR = 2.5, p = 0.026) independently predicted pathological regional lymph node metastasis. The areas under the receiver-operating-characteristic curves were 0.631, 0.671, and 0.711 for visual interpretation, primary tumor entropy, and their combination, respectively. Based on visual interpretation, a primary tumor entropy ≥ 3.0 improved the positive predictive value of positive visual interpretation from 51.2% to 63.0%, whereas an entropy < 3.0 improved the negative predictive value of negative visual interpretation from 75.3% to 82.6%. In cases with positive visual interpretation and low entropy, or negative visual interpretation and high entropy, the nodal metastasis rates were approximately 30%. In the survival analyses, the primary tumor entropy was also independently associated with DFS (HR = 2.7, p = 0.001) and OS (HR = 4.8, p = 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

Our preliminary results show that the primary tumor entropy may improve ¹⁸F-FDG PET visual interpretation in predicting pathological nodal metastasis in lung adenocarcinoma, and may also show a survival prognostic value. This versatile biomarker may facilitate tailored therapeutic strategies for patients with resectable lung adenocarcinoma.