Purpose: This study was performed to determine the prognostic value of lymphocyte-to-CRP ratio after curative resection for hepatocellular carcinoma. Methods: Between July 2010 and October 2021, 173 consecutive patients (144 male, 29 female) who underwent surgical resection for pathologically confirmed hepatocellular carcinoma were included in this retrospective study. Cox regression analysis was used to evaluate the relationship between clinicopathological characteristics and recurrence-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS). A P-value of <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The patients (mean age, 71 years) were stratified into high (≥9,500, n = 108) and low (<9,500, n = 65) lymphocyteto-CRP ratio groups. The low lymphocyte-to-CRP ratio group had significantly worse RFS and OS. Low lymphocyte-toCRP ratio (hazard ratio [HR], 1.865; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.176–2.960; P = 0.008), multiple tumors (HR, 3.333; 95% CI, 2.042–5.343; P < 0.001), and microvascular invasion (HR, 1.934; 95% CI, 1.178–3.184; P = 0.009) were independently associated with RFS, whereas low albumin-to-globulin ratio (HR, 2.270; 95% CI, 1.074–4.868; P = 0.032), α-FP of ≥25 ng/mL (HR, 2.187; 95% CI, 1.115–4.259; P = 0.023), and poor tumor differentiation (HR, 2.781; 95% CI, 1.041–6.692; P = 0.042) were independently associated with OS. Lymphocyte-to-CRP ratio had a higher area under the curve (0.635) than other inflammation-based markers (0.51–0.63). Conclusion Lymphocyte-to-CRP ratio is superior to other inflammation-based markers as a predictor of RFS in patients with surgically resected hepatocellular carcinoma.

Background: The anti-programmed death 1 (PD-1) antibody has led to durable clinical responses in a wide variety of human tumors. We have previously developed the caninized anti-canine PD-1 antibody (ca-4F12-E6) and evaluated its therapeutic properties in dogs with advance-staged oral malignant melanoma (OMM), however, their therapeutic effects on other types of canine tumors remain unclear. Objective: The present clinical study was carried out to evaluate the safety profile and clinical efficacy of ca-4F12-E6 in dogs with advanced solid tumors except for OMM. Methods: Thirty-eight dogs with non-OMM solid tumors were enrolled prospectively and treated with ca-4F12-E6 at 3 mg/kg every 2 weeks of each 10-week treatment cycle. Adverse events (AEs) and treatment efficacy were graded based on the criteria established by the Veterinary Cooperative Oncology Group. Results: One dog was withdrawn, and thirty-seven dogs were evaluated for the safety and efficacy of ca-4F12-E6. Treatment-related AEs of any grade occurred in 13 out of 37 cases (35.1%).Two dogs with sterile nodular panniculitis and one with myasthenia gravis and hypothyroidism were suspected of immune-related AEs. In 30 out of 37 dogs that had target tumor lesions, the overall response and clinical benefit rates were 6.9% and 27.6%, respectively. The median progression-free survival and overall survival time were 70 days and 215 days, respectively. Conclusions The present study demonstrated that ca-4F12-E6 was well-tolerated in nonOMM dogs, with a small number of cases showing objective responses. This provides evidence supporting large-scale clinical trials of anti-PD-1 antibody therapy in dogs.