Lung cancer ranks among the most prevalent and lethal malignancies globally. Its prognostic outcomes are not only contingent upon tumor characteristics and therapeutic interventions but also intricately linked to the nutritional and immune profiles of patients. This article conducts a thorough review of both domestic and international research, providing a comprehensive synthesis of the prognostic value of widely investigated nutritional and immune indicators in the context of lung cancer. The primary objective is to identify optimal prognostic markers in clinical practice, offering guidance for precise post-treatment assessment and early intervention for lung cancer patients.
ObjectiveTo explore the association between C-reactive protein/albumin ratio (CAR) and prognosis of lung cancer patients.MethodsWe searched PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang and Chongqing VIP databases for eligible studies evaluating the predictive role of CAR for the prognosis in lung cancer from establishment of databases to November 30, 2018. The Stata 12.0 software was used to conduct the meta-analysis and the pooled hazard ratio (HR) was used to assess the association between CAR and prognosis of lung cancer.ResultsA total of 1 903 lung cancer patients from 6 retrospective studies were included in the current meta-analysis and all the patients were from Asian countries. The results showed that patients with elevated pretreatment CAR were significantly correlated with worse overall survival [HR=1.75, 95% confidence interval (1.53, 1.99), P<0.001] with low heterogeneity (I2=25.9%, P=0.240). Subgroup analyses based on the country, pathology and treatment further demonstrated above findings.ConclusionsElevated pretreatment CAR is a negative predictor for prognosis in Asian patients with lung cancer. More researches with big sample size and high quality from non-Asian countries are still needed to verify our results.
Objectives To describe background, measures and impacts of building essential healthcare system in the developed and developing countries aboard. Methods Search words were chosen by both health policy experts and search coordinators after discussion and pilot. The resources we searched included electronic databases, websites of health institutions and governments and search engine Google. Any reports of implemented strategy to develop an essential healthcare package were included. Pre-designed data extraction form was used for collecting strategies and study method of included studies. Then the extracted information was analyzed and described. Result 166 studies covering 72 countries were included, most of which were studies in the middle and low Countries. In terms of study objectives, many studies (160 articles) aimed to describe strategies, while few studies(6 articles) were to evaluate effectiveness of strategies. Most of studies evaluating effectiveness were cross-sectionnary data, Except one time cohort study with intervention. Conclusions Strategies to implement essential healthcare system varies in the different country because of diversity of political, culture and economic background and different goals. The experience in transition countries gives us more high lights.
Objective To describe the criteria and procedure for defining an essential healthcare package in the developed and developing countries. Method Search words were chosen by both health policy experts and search coordinators after discussion and pilot. We searched electronic databases, websites of health institutions and governments and search engine Google. Any reports of implemented strategy to develope an essential healthcare package were included. Pre-designed data extraction form was used for collecting strategies and study method of included studies. Then the extracted information was analyzed and described. Result One hundred and sixty-six studies covering 72 countries were included, most of which were studies in the middle and low Countries. In terms of study objective,160 articles aimed to describe strategies, 6 articles aimed to evaluate effectiveness of strategies.Five studies evaluating effectiveness were cross-sectionnary data, and one study was time series. Conclusion An appropriate package should be defined according to both technique criteria and social welfare criteria, considering each country’s healthcare system and market structure, characteristics of the demander and provider, capacity of government’s regulation. The experience in transition countries gives us more high lights.