Pancoast tumor, a special subtype of non-small cell lung cancer originating from the apex of the upper lobe, is characterized by its complex clinical manifestations and high treatment difficulty due to its unique anatomical location, often leading to a relatively poor prognosis. Currently, guidelines recommend neoadjuvant concurrent chemoradiotherapy followed by surgery as the standard treatment strategy, which has significantly improved overall patient survival compared to previous approaches. However, this regimen has limitations, including significant toxicity, increased surgical complexity, and a lack of individualized treatment options. In recent years, new strategies such as neoadjuvant targeted therapy and immunechemotherapy combinations have shown higher pathological response rates and manageable safety profiles in clinical studies, offering new directions for treating Pancoast tumors. This case report describes a 56-year-old female diagnosed with stage ⅢC Pancoast tumor harboring co-mutations in EGFR and ERBB2 and high PD-L1 expression. Through dynamic biopsy-guided precise targeted therapy, a neoadjuvant strategy incorporating immunotherapy and chemotherapy, and successful surgical intervention, pathological complete response was achieved. This case highlights the critical value of a multidisciplinary team approach and precision medicine in the management of Pancoast tumor.
ObjectiveTo investigate the influencing factors of total pathological complete response (tpCR) in newly treated human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-positive breast cancer patients after neoadjuvant targeted chemotherapy, so as to provide more reference for the formulation of surgical plan and prognosis assessment. MethodsNinety-five newly treated HER2-positive breast cancer patients after neoadjuvant targeted chemotherapy were retrospectively chosen in the period from January 2021 to January 2023 in our hospital and all patients were divided into tpCR group (51 cases) and non-tpCR group (44 cases) according to whether tpCR was achieved after neoadjuvant targeted chemotherapy or not. Univariate and multivariate methods were used to evaluate the independent influencing factors of tpCR after neoadjuvant targeted chemotherapy in newly treated HER2-positive breast cancer patients. The prediction model based on the above independent influencing factors was constructed and the potential predictive efficacy of this model for tpCR after neoadjuvant targeted chemotherapy was evaluated. ResultsAmong 95 patients, 51 patients achieved tpCR after neoadjuvant targeted chemotherapy and 44 patients did not achieve tpCR. The results of the multivariate logistic regression model analysis showed that the patients with HER2 3+(OR=6.102, P=0.014), HER2+/hormone receptor– (HER2+/hormone receptor+ OR=0.129, P=0.006), and trastuzumab+pantomizumab treatment (OR=6.582, P=0.014) had higher tpCR rate, estrogen receptor 3+ (OR=0.122, P=0.0.033), progesterone receptor 3+ (OR=0.179, P=0.020), Ki-67 index of 15%–30% (OR=0.088, P=0.030) and 31%–60% (OR=0.066, P=0.017) had lower tpCR rate. The predicted area under the curve of this model was 0.881 [95%CI (0.815, 0.947)]. ConclusionsThe achievement of tpCR after new adjuvant treatment in newly diagnosed HER2 positive breast cancer patients is related to the expression level of HER2 in immunohistochemistry, molecular typing and new adjuvant targeted treatment scheme. At the same time, the prediction model based on these influencing factors can predict the effect of tpCR after new adjuvant treatment in patients to a certain extent.
ObjectiveTo analyze the factors influencing axillary pathological complete response (pCR) after neoadjuvant therapy (NAT) and to provide the possibility of exempting axillary surgery for patients with better pathological efficacy of primary breast lesions after NAT. MethodsAccording to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, the patients with breast cancer admitted to the Department of Breast Surgery, Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University from January 1, 2020 to June 30, 2022 were retrospectively analyzed. All patients were diagnosed with ipsilateral axillary lymph node metastasis of breast cancer and the NAT cycle was completed according to standards. All patients underwent axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) after NAT. The therapeutic effect of primary breast lesions was evaluated by Miller-Payne (MP) grading system. The axillary pCR was judged according to whether there was residual positive axillary lymph nodes after ALND. The unvariate and multivariate logistic regressions were used to analyze the risk factors affecting the axillary pCR. At the same time, the possibility of exempting axillary surgery after NAT in the MP grade 5 or in whom without ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) was evaluated. The ALND was considered to exempt when the negative predictive value was 90% or more and false negative <10% or almost same. ResultsA total of 111 eligible patients with breast cancer were gathered in the study, 64 of whom with axillary pCR. There were 43 patients of MP grade 5 without DCIS after NAT, 41 of whom were axillary pCR. The univariate analysis results showed that the estrogen receptor and progesterone receptor statuses, molecular type, NAT regimen, and MP grade were associated with the axillary pCR after NAT, then the logistic regression multivariate analysis results showed that the MP grade ≤3 and MP grade 4 decreased the probability of axillary pCR as compared with the MP grade 5 [OR=0.105, 95%CI (0.028, 0.391), P=0.001; OR=0.045, 95%CI (0.012, 0.172), P<0.001]. There were 51 patients of MP grade 5 after NAT, 46 of whom were axillary pCR. The negative predictive value and the false negative rate of MP grade 5 on predicting the postoperative residual axillary lymph nodes were 90.2% [95%CI (81.7%, 98.6%)] and 10.6% [95%CI (1.5%, 19.8%)], respectively, which of MP grade 5 without DCIS were 95.3% [95%CI (88.8%, 101.9%)] and 4.3% [95%CI (–1.7%, 10.2%)] , respectively. ConclusionsThe probability of axillary pCR for the patient with higher MP grade of breast primary after NAT is higher. It is probable of exempting axillary surgery when MP grade is 5 after NAT.
ObjectiveTo investigate the effect and predictive value of systemic inflammatory markers on pathological complete response (pCR) after neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) for locally advanced breast cancer (LABC). MethodsThe clinicopathologic data of female patients with LABC who received NACT and radical surgical resection in the Department of Breast Surgery, Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University from February 2019 to February 2022 were retrospectively analyzed. The factors affecting pCR after NACT were analyzed by the multivariate logistic regression and the prediction model was established. The efficiency of the prediction model was evaluated by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and area under the ROC curve (AUC). ResultsA total of 98 patients were gathered, of which 29 obtained pCR, with a pCR rate of 29.6%. The multivariate analysis of binary logistic regression showed that the patients with non-menopausal status, negative estrogen receptor (ER), chemotherapy+targeted therapy, and systemic immune-inflammation index (SII) <532.70 (optimal critical value) were more likely to obtain pCR after NACT (P<0.05). The prediction model was established according to logistic regression analysis: Logit (P)=0.697–2.974×(menopausal status)–1.932×(ER status)+3.277×(chemotherapy regimen)–2.652×(SII). The AUC (95%CI) of the prediction model was 0.914 (0.840, 0.961), P<0.001. ConclusionsIt is not found that other inflammatory indicators such as neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio, and lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio are associated with pCR after NACT. But SII is an important predictor of pCR after NACT for LABC and has a good predictive efficiency.
ObjectiveTo summarize the complete response (CR, which referred to the imaging level) achieved by conversion therapy for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in the current researches, and explore the further therapy strategies and outcomes for patients acquired CR. MethodThe domestic and foreign literature on the research of CR achieved by conversion therapy for HCC was reviewed and summarized. ResultsWith the great progress of conversion therapy such as local therapy, systemic therapy, and local therapy in combination with systemic therapy for HCC, the proportion of the CR was increasing after conversion therapy. For the patients who achieved CR after conversion therapy, the surgical resection, liver transplantation, follow-up observation, etc. could be selected and showed a survival benefit. Conclusions From the opinion summarized in this review, with the development of targeted therapy and immunotherapy, as well as the new anti-tumor drugs, a growing number of conversion therapeutic schedules could be provided, CR rate was increasing. At present, for patients who have achieved CR after conversion therapy, surgical or non-surgical treatment can be chosen. However, there is no authoritative conclusion on which therapy method can benefit patients more. The current strategy is to perform personalized treatment plan based on the individual situation of patient, in order to achieve better survival benefit for patient.
Objective To investigate the clinicopathological characteristics of HER2 protein expression in different degrees in human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) negative breast cancer and the factors related to the efficacy of neoadjuvant chemotherapy in breast cancer with low HER2 expression. Methods The clinicopathological data of 161 patients with HER2-negative breast cancer who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy in the Department of Breast Surgery, Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University from March 2019 to March 2022 were retrospectively collected. The difference of clinical and pathological characteristics of patients with different levels of HER2 protein expression were analyzed, and the factors influencing the pathological complete remission (pCR) rate of breast cancer patients with low HER2 expression after neoadjuvant chemotherapy with unconditional logistic regression model were analyzed. Results Among 161 HER2 negative breast cancer patients, 108 cases were low HER2 expression, accounting for 67.1%. Compared with those with zero expression of HER2 [immunohistochemistry (IHC) 0], the patients with low HER2 expression had higher axillary lymph node metastasis rate (P=0.048), lower histological grade (P=0.006), and higher proportion of positive hormone receptor expression (P<0.001). There was no significant difference in pCR rate among the HER2 IHC 0, IHC 1+ and IHC 2+ / in situ hybridization (ISH)– (P=0.099) , and the pCR rate of low expression of HER2 was lower than that of zero expression of HER2 in the general population and Luminal subgroup, and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). There was no significant difference in triple negative breast cancer subgroup (P=0.814). The logistic regression analysis showed that age, histological grade and estrogen receptor expression status were independent influencing factors for pCR rate after neoadjuvant chemotherapy with low HER2 expression (P<0.05). Conclusions Different degrees of HER2 protein expressions in patients with HER2-negative breast cancer have unique clinicopathological characteristics. The pCR rate of neoadjuvant chemotherapy in patients with low HER2-expression breast cancer is lower than that in patients with zero HER2-expression breast cancer. Age, histological grade and estrogen receptor expression status are independent factors influencing the pCR rate of neoadjuvant chemotherapy in patients with low HER2-expression breast cancer.
ObjectiveTo explore the value of a decision tree (DT) model based on CT for predicting pathological complete response (pCR) after neoadjuvant chemotherapy therapy (NACT) in patients with locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC).MethodsThe clinical data and DICOM images of CT examination of 244 patients who underwent radical surgery after the NACT from October 2016 to March 2019 in the Database from Colorectal Cancer (DACCA) in the West China Hospital were retrospectively analyzed. The ITK-SNAP software was used to select the largest level of tumor and sketch the region of interest. By using a random allocation software, 200 patients were allocated into the training set and 44 patients were allocated into the test set. The MATLAB software was used to read the CT images in DICOM format and extract and select radiomics features. Then these reduced-dimensions features were used to construct the prediction model. Finally, the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, area under the ROC curve (AUC), sensitivity, and specificity values were used to evaluate the prediction model.ResultsAccording to the postoperative pathological tumor regression grade (TRG) classification, there were 28 cases in the pCR group (TRG0) and 216 cases in the non-pCR group (TRG1–TRG3). The outcomes of patients with LARC after NACT were highly correlated with 13 radiomics features based on CT (6 grayscale features: mean, variance, deviation, skewness, kurtosis, energy; 3 texture features: contrast, correlation, homogeneity; 4 shape features: perimeter, diameter, area, shape). The AUC value of DT model based on CT was 0.772 [95% CI (0.656, 0.888)] for predicting pCR after the NACT in the patients with LARC. The accuracy of prediction was higher for the non-PCR patients (97.2%), but lower for the pCR patients (57.1%).ConclusionsIn this preliminary study, the DT model based on CT shows a lower prediction efficiency in judging pCR patient with LARC before operation as compared with homogeneity researches, so a more accurate prediction model of pCR patient will be optimized through advancing algorithm, expanding data set, and digging up more radiomics features.
Objective To systematically evaluate the efficacy and safety of dose-dense neoadjuvant chemotherapy (ddNACT) and conventional neoadjuvant chemotherapy (cNACT) for locally advanced breast cancer (LABC). Methods PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, CNKI, Wanfang Data, and VIP databases were searched for randomized controlled trials (RCT) comparing ddNACT regimen with cNACT regimen for breast cancer. The time limit for retrieval was from establishment to March 1st, 2021. Two reviewers independently screened literatures, extracted data and assessed risk bias of included studies; then, meta-analysis was performed by using Stata 15.0 software. Results A total of 13 RCTs were included, including 3 258 patients, of which 1 625 patients received ddNACT and 1 633 patients received cNACT. The results of meta-analysis showed that the ddNACT regimen could improve the pathological complete response rate (pCR, P<0.001), objective response rate (ORR, P<0.001), and disease free survival (DFS, P=0.037) as compared with the cNACT regimen, there was no significant difference in the overall survival (OS) between the two groups (P=0.098). The incidences of grade 3 or 4 oral stomatitis (P=0.005) and neurotoxicity (P<0.001) were higher and the incidence of grade 3 or 4 neutropenia was lower (P=0.025) in the patients with ddNACT regimen, there were no significant differences in grade 3 or 4 thrombocytopenia (P=0.152), grade 3 or 4 anemia (P=0.123), chemotherapy completion rate (P=0.161) and breast conservative surgery rate (P=0.186) between the two groups. Patients with hormone receptor (HR) negative (HR–) were more likely to get pCR after neoadjuvant chemotherapy (P<0.001). ConclusionsCurrent evidence shows that the use of anthracycline/taxane-based ddNACT regimen in LABC patients can improve the pCR, ORR, and DFS as compared with cNACT regimen. The pCR after neoadjuvant chemotherapy in the patients with HR– is higher than that with HR+. Prophylactic use of granulocyte-colony stimulating factor could significantly reduce the incidence of neutropenia, and most patients are tolerant to ddNACT regimen, 2 regimens have similar chemotherapy completion rates.
ObjectiveTo observe the accuracy of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for predicting pathologic complete response (pCR) after neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) in breast cancer, and to analyze the cause of the prediction error.MethodsData from 157 breast cancer patients who underwent NAC before surgery in Mianyang Central Hospital from January 2017 to January 2019 were analyzed. MRI parameters before and after NAC and pCR conditions were collected to analyze the parameters that produced false positives and false negatives.ResultsOf the 157 patients, 37 (23.6%) achieved pCR after NAC, and 33 (21.0%) achieved radiation complete remission (rCR) after NAC. The accuracy of MRI prediction was 70.7% (111/157), the sensitivity was 82.5% (99/120), and the specificity was 32.4% (12/37). A total of 25 cases did not achieve rCR, but postoperative evaluation achieved pCR (false positive), 21 cases achieved rCR, but postoperative evaluation did not achieve pCR (false negative). Diameter of tumor, peritumoral oedema, and background parenchymal enhancement were associated with MRI false positive prediction (P<0.05); gland density and tumor rim enhancement were associated with MRI false negative prediction (P<0.05).ConclusionMRI can be used as an important method to predict pCR after NAC in breast cancer patients, and its accuracy may be related to diameter of tumor, peritumoral oedema, background parenchymal enhancement, gland density, and tumor rim enhancement.
ObjectiveTo investigate the factors influencing pathological complete response (pCR) after neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) in patients with luminal breast cancer (LBC), and to construct and validate a nomogram-based predictive model. MethodsPatients with LBC who received NACT at the Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University between January 2021 and February 2025 were retrospectively enrolled. Patients were randomly divided into training cohort (n=205) and validation cohort (n=87) by a ratio of 7∶3. Multivariate logistic regression analyses was performed in the training cohort, and a nomogram was developed based on the multivariate results. Model discrimination was evaluated using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves, calibration was assessed using calibration plots, and clinical utility was examined using decision curve analysis (DCA) in both cohorts. ResultsMultivariate logistic regression analysis in the training cohort showed that clinical tumor stage 4 [OR=0.018, 95%CI (0.001, 0.312), P=0.006], estrogen receptor expression>37.5% [OR=0.275, 95%CI (0.095, 0.798), P=0.018], and Ki-67 index>47.5% [OR=4.134, 95%CI (1.480, 11.544), P=0.007] were independent factors associated with pCR after NACT in LBC patients. A nomogram was constructed accordingly. The area under the ROC curve of the predictive model was 0.834 in the training cohort and 0.785 in the validation cohort. Calibration curves and Hosmer-Lemeshow tests demonstrated good predictive performance of the model in both cohorts (χ2=1.610, P=0.807; χ2=1.859, P=0.762). DCA indicated that the nomogram provided the greatest net benefit when the threshold probability ranged from 0% to 50% in both cohorts. ConclusionsClinical tumor stage, estrogen receptor expression level, and Ki-67 index were independent predictors of pCR after NACT in LBC patients. The nomogram constructed based on these factors showed good predictive performance in both the training and validation cohorts.
