Are low serum albumin levels and liver metastasis powerful prognostic markers for survival in patients with carcinomas of unknown primary site?
Lymphopenia and low serum albumin levels were identified as 2 new independent markers of prognosis in patients with CUP. Although the authors confirmed the validity of the previous prognostic model, they developed and validated a more powerful, simple model based on the 2 most powerful adverse prognostic factors: liver metastasis and low serum albumin levels. These findings were confirmed in an independent cohort of patients with CUP, and consideration of the authors' improved prognostic model for survival of patients with CUP is warranted.
These findings indicate that chronic aspiration has a profound effect on the nature of the immune response to aerosolized allergens in a model of experimentally induced airway hypersensitivity.