Postgraduate medical journal
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Review Meta Analysis
Clinicopathological and prognostic values of PD-L1 expression in oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma: a meta-analysis of 31 studies with 5368 patients.
Several immune checkpoint inhibitors targeting programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1)/programmed death 1 have successfully improved the prognosis of oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) with approval in certain countries. However, whether the expression of PD-L1 is associated with the degree of benefit is unclear yet and a unified standard of antibody and cut-off value of PD-L1 detection is also lacking. The current meta-analysis then aimed to explore the association between PD-L1 expression and clinicopathological features as well as prognosis in ESCC. ⋯ Heterogeneity decreased significantly in subgroup analyses. The overexpression of PD-L1 was associated with poor DFS at the cut-off point of ≥1% (HR 1.642, 95% CI 1.367 to 1.973, p<0.010; I2=0%) and worse OS at the cut-off point of ≥10% (HR 1.575, 95% CI 1.175 to 2.111, p<0.010; I2=0%). The overexpression of PD-L1 was correlated with lymph node and distant metastasis as well as poor survival of ESCC.
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Several predictors of COVID-19 severity have been reported. However, chronic airway inflammation characterised by accumulated lymphocytes or eosinophils may affect the pathogenesis of COVID-19. ⋯ Eosinopaenia and elevated LDH are potential predictors of disease severity in patients with COVID-19 with underlying chronic airway diseases. In addition, they could indicate disease progression and treatment effectiveness.