Translational lung cancer research最新文献

{"title":"Association of FDG PET/CT and immune profiling with pathologic complete response after neoadjuvant immunotherapy in stage II-III non-small cell lung cancer.","authors":"Eun Seong Lee, Saem Mul Park, Seunghun Lee, Sehui Kim, Juwhan Choi, Jun Hee Lee, Jae Seon Eo, Hyun Koo Kim, Hwan Seok Yong, Chun-Jen J Chen, Heidi Robinson, P Rod Dunbar, Sung Yong Lee","doi":"10.21037/tlcr-2026-0628","DOIUrl":"10.21037/tlcr-2026-0628","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Neoadjuvant immunotherapy has emerged as a transformative approach for resectable non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Pathologic complete response (pCR) after neoadjuvant therapy serves as a robust surrogate marker for early treatment efficacy and long-term outcomes. However, reliable noninvasive predictors of pCR before surgery remain an unmet clinical need. This study investigated the association between fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT) parameters and tumor-infiltrating immune cell subsets in pre-treatment biopsies with pCR in patients with stage II-III NSCLC treated with immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI)-based neoadjuvant therapy.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We retrospectively analyzed 13 patients with stage II-III NSCLC who underwent ICI-based neoadjuvant therapy and baseline FDG PET/CT. pCR was assessed in resected surgical specimens. PET/CT parameters, including tumor-to-liver ratio (TLR) and maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax), were evaluated before and after neoadjuvant treatment. Multiplex immunofluorescence (mIF) was performed on pre-treatment tumor biopsies to quantify tumor-infiltrating immune cell subsets and functional immune markers.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Eight patients (62%) achieved pCR. Compared with the non-pCR group, patients with pCR showed significantly lower post-treatment TLR (median 1.51 <i>vs.</i> 2.14, P=0.004) and a greater relative reduction in TLR (median 0.82 <i>vs.</i> 0.58, P=0.004). Pre-treatment biopsies from patients with pCR demonstrated higher infiltration of CD4⁺ T cells (P=0.04) and increased TIGIT expression on both CD8⁺ and CD4⁺ T cells. Pre-treatment TLR positively correlated with CD68⁺ macrophages and Ki67⁺ CD8⁺ T cells, while changes in TLR were significantly associated with TIGIT⁺ tumor-infiltrating T cells. During follow-up, recurrence occurred in only one patient in the non-pCR group.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Dynamic changes in PET/CT-derived TLR and immune biomarkers from pre-treatment biopsies were associated with pCR following neoadjuvant immunotherapy in stage II-III NSCLC. These findings support the complementary role of metabolic imaging and immune profiling in improving patient selection and perioperative decision-making.</p>","PeriodicalId":23271,"journal":{"name":"Translational lung cancer research","volume":"15 8","pages":"227"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-08-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13557881/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148931167","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Urinary miR-574-5p as a candidate biomarker for early-stage lung adenocarcinoma: an exploratory case-control study.","authors":"Ryota Nagashima, Masato Aragaki, Kanako C Hatanaka, Yoshiki Shinomiya, Masaru Ushijima, Aki Fujiwara-Kuroda, Kazuto Ohtaka, Haruhiko Shiiya, Ryohei Chiba, Shinya Otsuka, Takumi Nakaya, Ritsu Omine, Tomoaki Kuji, Yutaka Hatanaka, Tatsuya Kato","doi":"10.21037/tlcr-2026-0600","DOIUrl":"10.21037/tlcr-2026-0600","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Early detection of lung adenocarcinoma remains challenging despite advances in low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) screening. Urinary microRNAs (miRNAs) represent a non-invasive biomarker modality, but their clinical utility in early-stage disease remains unclear. This study aimed to identify urinary miRNA candidates associated with early-stage lung adenocarcinoma and to explore whether urinary miR-574-5p may provide complementary diagnostic information beyond established clinical risk factors.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We conducted an exploratory case-control study using urinary samples from the J-CAN cohort, a prospective biomarker study. Small RNA sequencing was performed to profile miRNAs. Candidate miRNAs were identified using edgeR and the Wilcoxon rank-sum test. Associations with lung cancer status were evaluated using multivariable Firth logistic regression adjusted for age, sex, smoking status, and urinary creatinine. Model performance was assessed using the area under the curve (AUC), and internal validation was performed using bootstrap resampling.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>A total of 77 participants (33 early-stage lung adenocarcinoma (stage 0-IA2) and 44 healthy controls) were included in the primary analysis. Among candidate miRNAs, miR-574-5p showed the most consistent overall signal. Urinary miR-574-5p expression was significantly decreased in patients with early-stage adenocarcinoma and remained independently associated with lung cancer status after adjustment [odds ratio (OR) 0.15, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.02-0.53, P<0.001]. The baseline clinical model yielded an AUC of 0.961, which increased to 0.988 with the addition of miR-574-5p (ΔAUC =0.027), although this increase was not statistically significant.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Urinary miR-574-5p was decreased in early-stage lung adenocarcinoma and was independently associated with disease status. Although its incremental diagnostic value was modest, urinary miR-574-5p may provide limited complementary information beyond established clinical risk factors. Further validation in independent and prospective cohorts is warranted.</p>","PeriodicalId":23271,"journal":{"name":"Translational lung cancer research","volume":"15 8","pages":"244"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-08-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13557873/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148931225","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"PSMA6 drives non-small cell lung cancer progression by stabilizing NEDD8 and activating NF-κB signaling.","authors":"Shiyang Deng, Zixuan Li, Nan Liu, Yue Wang, Jialu Sun, Bin Guan, Jiang Du","doi":"10.21037/tlcr-2026-0781","DOIUrl":"10.21037/tlcr-2026-0781","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Non‑small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is a major cause of cancer‑associated death globally. Elucidating novel molecular drivers is essential for targeted therapy development. This study sought to investigate the function and regulatory mechanism of proteasome 20S subunit alpha 6 (PSMA6) in NSCLC.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Proteasome 20S subunit alpha 6 (PSMA6) expression in NSCLC tissues and cells was analyzed using The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) datasets, immunohistochemistry, and Western blotting. Gain- and loss-of-function assays were performed to evaluate its biological functions. Protein interaction assays and functional rescue experiments were conducted to investigate the underlying mechanisms.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>We found that PSMA6 was significantly upregulated in NSCLC tissues and cell lines and was associated with poor patient prognosis. Functional experiments demonstrated that PSMA6 promoted NSCLC cell proliferation and migration. Mechanistically, PSMA6 activated nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) signaling by enhancing p65 nuclear translocation and IκBα phosphorylation. Further investigation revealed that PSMA6 directly interacted with neural precursor cell expressed, developmentally down-regulated 8 (NEDD8) and increased its protein stability without affecting its mRNA level. Importantly, NEDD8 knockdown abolished PSMA6-induced NF-κB activation and malignant phenotypes, confirming that PSMA6 exerts its oncogenic effects through the NEDD8/NF-κB axis.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Our findings identify a novel PSMA6/NEDD8/NF-κB regulatory axis that promotes NSCLC progression and suggest PSMA6 as a potential therapeutic target.</p>","PeriodicalId":23271,"journal":{"name":"Translational lung cancer research","volume":"15 8","pages":"247"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-08-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13557897/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148931231","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Significant improvement in overall survival with postoperative traditional Chinese medicine in stage I lung adenocarcinoma: a real-world retrospective cohort study.","authors":"Boyue Pang, Jianing Chen, Xiang Lv, Mengfan Wang, Li Wang, Chunxia Su, Sufang Zhang","doi":"10.21037/tlcr-2026-0472","DOIUrl":"10.21037/tlcr-2026-0472","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>The clinical efficacy of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in the postoperative management of early-stage lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) remains unclear, particularly in patients who do not receive adjuvant therapy. This real-world retrospective cohort study evaluated the association between postoperative TCM and long-term prognosis in patients with pathological stage I LUAD.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We retrospectively analyzed pathological stage I LUAD who underwent radical R0 resection and did not receive postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy, radiotherapy, targeted therapy, or immunotherapy. Patients were classified into the TCM group (n=405) and the follow-up group (n=371) according to documented postoperative use of individualized TCM decoctions. Postoperative TCM exposure was defined as continuous individualized herbal decoction treatment for at least 6 months after surgery, prescribed according to syndrome differentiation. Baseline variables included gender, age, smoking status, family history, and T stage. Follow-up was performed through outpatient visits, imaging review, medical record review, and telephone contact until February 16, 2026. The primary endpoint was overall survival (OS), and the secondary endpoint was recurrence-free survival (RFS). The primary analysis used unweighted multivariable Cox regression, and stabilized inverse probability of treatment weighting (sIPTW) analysis was performed as a sensitivity analysis.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>A total of 776 patients were analyzed. Over the median follow-up of 92.5 months, 50 death events and 145 recurrence events were documented. After sIPTW adjustment, baseline covariates were well balanced (absolute standardized mean differences <0.01). TCM was associated with improved OS [adjusted hazard ratio (aHR): 0.387, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.214-0.698; P=0.002], corresponding to a 61.3% reduction in mortality risk. In the TCM group, RFS showed a favorable but non-significant trend (aHR: 0.811, 95% CI: 0.582-1.130; P=0.22). Subgroup analyses demonstrated that the protective effect of TCM on OS was generally consistent across most clinical subgroups, particularly in females (aHR =0.215, 95% CI: 0.061-0.750) and patients aged ≥60 years (aHR =0.413, 95% CI: 0.206-0.828).</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Postoperative TCM is associated with significantly improved OS in stage I LUAD patients without adjuvant therapy, suggesting its potential role as a complementary maintenance approach requiring prospective validation.</p>","PeriodicalId":23271,"journal":{"name":"Translational lung cancer research","volume":"15 8","pages":"239"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-08-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13557856/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148931258","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Pulmonary metastasectomy and response-adapted preoperative surveillance in resectable metastatic osteosarcoma: a single-center retrospective cohort study with long-term follow-up.","authors":"Zhusheng Zhang, Tao Liang, Qi Liu, Xiaoqing Yang, Xiaoyan Chen, Ruixuan Liu, Junxiang Wen, Zhuochao Liu, Yucheng Fu, Yichen Xu, Shuxian Li, Renjie Lu, Yuhui Shen, Qiyuan Bao, Weibin Zhang","doi":"10.21037/tlcr-2026-0589","DOIUrl":"10.21037/tlcr-2026-0589","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Background: &lt;/strong&gt;Pulmonary metastasectomy remains the standard of care for resectable metastatic osteosarcoma. However, controversy persists regarding minimally invasive surgery versus thoracotomy for occult nodule detection, the optimal use and duration of preoperative systemic therapy and prognostic factors associated with long-term survival. This study aimed to evaluate surgical approaches, assess the use and duration of preoperative systemic therapy, and identify prognostic factors associated with long-term survival in this population.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Methods: &lt;/strong&gt;At a single center, we retrospectively reviewed 159 patients who underwent 229 pulmonary metastasectomies from 2000 to 2022. Eligible patients had pathologically confirmed osteosarcoma, resectable pulmonary metastatic disease, surgery intended to remove all known lesions and postoperative follow-up. The primary endpoint was post-metastasis survival (PMS), defined from metastatic diagnosis to death or the last follow-up. Computed tomography (CT) was scheduled every 4-8 weeks during preoperative surveillance and at prespecified postoperative intervals. Surgical approaches included conventional thoracotomy, mini-thoracotomy, and video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS). Preoperative strategies comprised upfront surgery or preoperative systemic therapy with first- or second-line chemotherapy, tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), or their combination. Oncological and perioperative outcomes were analyzed with a median follow-up of 79.1 months.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Results: &lt;/strong&gt;The median age was 17.0 years, 106 (66.7%) patients were male, and 185 of 229 procedures (80.8%) followed preoperative systemic therapy. The 3- and 5-year PMS were 52.2% and 36.0%, respectively. Despite advances in CT resolution, palpation-assisted mini-thoracotomy identified more occult lesions than VATS (43.4% &lt;i&gt;vs.&lt;/i&gt; 6.8%, P=0.004), with comparable rates of surgical complications. However, no significant difference in survival was observed between mini-thoracotomy and VATS. Remarkably, response to preoperative systemic therapy was the strongest independent predictor of survival, with a 5-year survival rate of 41.1% in responders versus 0.0% in non-responders (hazard ratio =0.22, P&lt;0.001). Responders also exhibited a trend toward higher immune diversity (P=0.055) and increased CD8&lt;sup&gt;+&lt;/sup&gt; T cell infiltration (P=0.098) in metastasectomy specimens. Using tumor response modeling, we identified a 2-3-month period as the optimal duration for preoperative surveillance.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Conclusions: &lt;/strong&gt;In this single-center retrospective cohort, preoperative surveillance and response-adapted strategy, combined with palpation-assisted mini-thoracotomy, was associated with favorable long-term outcomes of metastasectomy in patients with resectable metastatic osteosarcoma. However, given the observational design and modest sample size, these findings are exploratory and require validation in larger","PeriodicalId":23271,"journal":{"name":"Translational lung cancer research","volume":"15 8","pages":"225"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-08-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13557883/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148931278","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Clarifying the nutritional and functional context of gut microbiome signals during chemotherapy for advanced non-small cell lung cancer.","authors":"Jiahui Xiong, Chenghua Lu","doi":"10.21037/tlcr-2026-0790","DOIUrl":"10.21037/tlcr-2026-0790","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":23271,"journal":{"name":"Translational lung cancer research","volume":"15 8","pages":"267"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-08-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13557882/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148931130","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Association between antibiotic exposure and outcomes of chemoimmunotherapy in extensive-stage small cell lung cancer: a single-center retrospective cohort study.","authors":"Ying-Long Peng, Qian-Lin Huang, Hong-Yi Zhu, Zhi-Hong Chen, Yu Deng, Chang Lu, Chong-Rui Xu, Fa-Man Xiao, Qing Zhou","doi":"10.21037/tlcr-2026-0571","DOIUrl":"10.21037/tlcr-2026-0571","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Lung cancer remains a leading cause of cancer incidence and mortality worldwide. Small cell lung cancer (SCLC), though only 15% of cases, shows aggressive biological behavior and poor prognosis. Chemoimmunotherapy is the standard first-line treatment for extensive-stage SCLC (ES-SCLC). Gut microbiota affects immunotherapy in other cancers, but its role in ES-SCLC is unclear. This study examined the association of antibiotics, cathartics, and probiotics with the efficacy of chemoimmunotherapy in ES-SCLC.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>This retrospective study enrolled patients with ES-SCLC receiving chemoimmunotherapy at the Guangdong Lung Cancer Institute (GLCI). Kaplan-Meier curves and Cox regression were used to evaluate associations of antibiotic, cathartic, and probiotic use with progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). Multivariable Cox regression models, including an Akaike information criterion (AIC)-based model and a clinically guided model with prespecified covariates, were used to evaluate the association between antibiotic exposure and survival outcomes. Propensity score-based weighting and matching, together with additional sensitivity analyses, were performed to assess the robustness of antibiotic-related associations.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Antibiotic exposure was associated with shorter PFS in univariable Cox regression [hazard ratio (HR): 2.71, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.41-5.22; P=0.003] and multivariable Cox regression (AIC model: HR: 2.63, 95% CI: 1.28-5.41; P=0.008; clinical model: HR: 2.16, 95% CI: 1.06-4.39; P=0.03). Antibiotic exposure was also associated with shorter OS in univariable analysis (HR: 6.02, 95% CI: 3.06-11.84; P<0.001) and multivariable analysis (AIC model: HR: 6.88, 95% CI: 3.26-14.54; P<0.001; clinical model: HR: 5.34, 95% CI: 2.62-10.87; P<0.001). Propensity score-weighted and sensitivity analyses showed generally consistent directions of association, whereas propensity score-matched analyses showed a consistent adverse direction without reaching statistical significance. Cathartic and probiotic use were not significantly associated with PFS or OS in exploratory analyses.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Antibiotic exposure was associated with shorter PFS in ES-SCLC patients receiving chemoimmunotherapy, with generally consistent findings across multiple analyses. The OS association was also observed. However, these results should be interpreted cautiously given the small exposed cohort, residual confounding, and possible proportional hazards violations. Prospective multicenter validation with detailed antibiotic, infection, and microbiome data is warranted.</p>","PeriodicalId":23271,"journal":{"name":"Translational lung cancer research","volume":"15 8","pages":"233"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-08-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13557869/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148931145","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Adjuvant therapy after pathological complete response in patients with non-small cell lung cancer: a multicenter retrospective cohort study.","authors":"Yuechen Cui, Xuguang Zhang, Miao Wang, Guanhua Liu, Chunquan Liu, Leina Sun, Zhanshuo Zhang, Shuo Wang, Jiping Xie, Zhenfa Zhang, Changli Wang, Bin Zhang, Mu Hu, Kang Zheng, Hongyan Wang, Hefei Li, Dongsheng Yue","doi":"10.21037/tlcr-2026-0878","DOIUrl":"10.21037/tlcr-2026-0878","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>In patients with resectable non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), the use of immune checkpoint inhibitors in both the neoadjuvant and perioperative settings has been associated with significant survival benefits. However, the comparative efficacy of neoadjuvant versus perioperative therapy remains unclear, particularly among patients who achieve pathological complete response (pCR). This study investigated the role of postoperative adjuvant therapy in patients with NSCLC achieving pCR after neoadjuvant therapy.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>In this retrospective multicenter study, patients with clinical stage II-IIIB NSCLC who achieved pCR following neoadjuvant therapy between 2019 and 2024 were identified. To balance baseline covariates between the two groups, inverse probability of treatment weighting was employed for patients who did and did not receive adjuvant therapy. Disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) were subsequently compared between the two groups, with subgroup analyses conducted according to pathological type and clinical stage.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>A total of 186 patients were included, with 135 receiving adjuvant therapy and 51 undergoing observation alone. After a median follow-up of 33 months and adjustment via inverse probability of treatment weighting, no significant differences in DFS or OS were observed between the adjuvant therapy group and the observation cohort. Specifically, the comparison of DFS yielded a log-rank P value of 0.818 [hazard ratio (HR) =1.17; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.31-4.37], and the comparison of OS yielded a log-rank P value of 0.705 (HR =1.37; 95% CI: 0.26-7.14). Treatment-related adverse events occurred in 18 patients receiving adjuvant therapy, leading to discontinuation in 10 cases.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>In this multicenter real-world cohort, postoperative adjuvant therapy was not associated with improved DFS or OS among patients achieving pCR after neoadjuvant therapy. Given the limited number of events and wide CIs, these findings should be interpreted as exploratory and further validated in prospective studies.</p>","PeriodicalId":23271,"journal":{"name":"Translational lung cancer research","volume":"15 8","pages":"252"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-08-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13557899/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148931189","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Optimizing neoadjuvant chemoimmunotherapy cycles based on radiologic response improves efficacy and survival in non-small cell lung cancer.","authors":"Jingyu Chen, Yichen Dong, Juemin Yu, Jialiang Wen, Haojie Si, Huikang Xie, Xinjian Li, Minglei Yang, Junqiang Fan, Yunlang She, Wei Li, Xiwen Sun, Junqi Wu, Long Xu, Chang Chen, Deping Zhao","doi":"10.21037/tlcr-2026-0522","DOIUrl":"10.21037/tlcr-2026-0522","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>The optimal number of neoadjuvant chemoimmunotherapy cycles in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remains unclear. This study evaluates whether determining the number of treatment cycles based on interim radiologic response after the initial two cycles impacts therapeutic efficacy and survival.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We retrospectively identified 395 patients with stage IIB-IIIB NSCLC who received 2-4 cycles of neoadjuvant chemoimmunotherapy between September 2020 and April 2024. Propensity score matching (PSM) was conducted between 2-cycle and 3-4-cycle groups, yielding 155 matched pairs. Patients were further stratified into partial response (PR) and stable disease (SD) subgroups based on their radiologic response after the first 2 cycles. Overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) were estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method, and logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with postoperative complications.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>In the overall matched cohort, receiving 3-4 cycles of neoadjuvant chemoimmunotherapy was significantly associated with improved OS (P=0.01) and RFS (P=0.03), increasing 24-month RFS rates from 72.5% to 78.2%. Such improvements were observed without an increase in the risk of postoperative complications. Subgroup analysis revealed 3-4 cycles significantly prolonged RFS in patients with SD after 2 cycles (P=0.045), improving 24-month RFS from 60.9% to 72.8%. In this subgroup, continued treatment also significantly reduced residual viable tumor (RVT) (20.0% <i>vs.</i> 57.5%, P=0.04) and showed a trend toward an improved major pathological response (MPR) rate (43.8% <i>vs.</i> 31.8%). Conversely, no additional benefits were observed in patients who achieved an early PR.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>For patients with radiologic SD after 2 cycles, continuing treatment to 3-4 cycles was associated with further reduction in RVT and prolonged RFS without increasing postoperative complications. By contrast, minimal benefit was observed with continued therapy in patients who achieved PR.</p>","PeriodicalId":23271,"journal":{"name":"Translational lung cancer research","volume":"15 8","pages":"241"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-08-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13557876/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148931190","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Prognostic impact of CEACAM5 in nonsquamous non-small cell lung cancer: a critical reappraisal driven by cut-off optimization.","authors":"Qian-Qian Xue, Yan Jin, Xu-Xia Shen, Qiang Zheng, Yao Fu, Qing-Xin Xia, Yuan Li","doi":"10.21037/tlcr-2026-0494","DOIUrl":"10.21037/tlcr-2026-0494","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Carcinoembryonic antigen-related cell adhesion molecule 5 (CEACAM5) has emerged as a promising therapeutic target for antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) in nonsquamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, the landscape of CEACAM5 protein expression and its association with clinicopathological features in nonsquamous NSCLC remain poorly characterized. This study represents the first comprehensive investigation to profile CEACAM5 protein expression in this specific population using a clinical-grade immunohistochemistry (IHC) assay.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We retrospectively analyzed 218 patients with resected nonsquamous NSCLC. A standardized IHC assay derived from a clinical trial was employed, utilizing a proprietary monoclonal antibody (clone 769) specifically developed for clinical application. We systematically evaluated the relationship between CEACAM5 expression and tumor characteristics using both a conventional therapeutic threshold (≥50%) and a sensitive data-driven cut-off (>0%) to explore the full spectrum of antigen expression.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The assay demonstrated excellent reproducibility. We found that CEACAM5 expression was significantly associated with markers of tumor aggressiveness, including lymphovascular and pleural invasion. Notably, the sensitive >0% cut-off revealed broader biological correlations than the restrictive ≥50% threshold. While CEACAM5 was not an independent prognostic factor in the overall cohort, a stage-specific, hypothesis-generating analysis-supported by external genomic validation-suggested that positive CEACAM5 expression may be associated with a trend towards poorer disease-free survival specifically in early-stage (stage I-II) patients, although this did not reach statistical significance (P=0.06).</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>This study provides the first detailed characterization of CEACAM5 protein expression in nonsquamous NSCLC, establishing it as a biomarker linked to aggressive disease phenotypes. Our findings suggest that adopting a sensitive detection threshold (>0%) may better capture the population of patients with biologically active CEACAM5, thereby potentially refining candidate selection for targeted therapies and risk stratification in early-stage disease, a hypothesis that warrants prospective validation.</p>","PeriodicalId":23271,"journal":{"name":"Translational lung cancer research","volume":"15 8","pages":"218"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-08-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13557870/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148931286","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}