{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,21]],"date-time":"2026-10-21T17:39:42Z","timestamp":1792604382406,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":25,"publisher":"Wiley","issue":"11","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,21]],"date-time":"2026-10-21T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1792540800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,21]],"date-time":"2026-10-21T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1792540800000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/doi.wiley.com\/10.1002\/tdm_license_1.1"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001809","name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["82272733"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["82272733"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001809","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001809","name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["82273083"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["82273083"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001809","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001809","name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["82503646"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["82503646"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001809","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["MedComm"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,11]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>ABSTRACT<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>Lymph nodes (LNs), principal sites of antitumor immunity, may undergo immune\u2010mediated regression; whether neoadjuvant chemoimmunotherapy (NCIT)\u2010induced regression indicates prognosis in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) remains unclear. We aimed to establish and validate a lymph node regression grade (LNRG) system for prognostic stratification. This multicenter, retrospective cohort study analyzed 965 patients receiving PD\u20101\u2010based NCIT and surgery at three Chinese tertiary cancer centers. LNRG was the ratio of summed viable tumor area to summed bed area (residual viable plus regressed preexisting tumor) across all dissected LNs. Negative LNs were assigned LNRG 0. Survival and predictive performance were assessed using Kaplan\u2013Meier\/Cox regression, time\u2010dependent area under the curve, Brier score, net reclassification improvement, and integrated discrimination improvement. Overall, 28,882 LNs were evaluated; patients were classified as LNRG 0\u20134 in 385 (39.9%), 150 (15.5%), 26 (2.7%), 141 (14.6%), and 263 (27.3%), respectively. LNRG independently predicted disease\u2010free and overall survival, with Grades 1\u20132 conferring the most favorable outcomes and Grade 4 the poorest. A random survival forest model incorporating LNRG, tumor regression grade, ypAJCC stage, and perineural invasion predicted 2\u2010year disease\u2010free survival in training and external validation cohorts. LNRG is a novel, independent prognostic indicator after NCIT.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1002\/mco2.71075","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,21]],"date-time":"2026-10-21T17:01:08Z","timestamp":1792602068000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Lymph Node Regression Improves Prognostic Stratification in Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma Receiving Neoadjuvant Chemoimmunotherapy: A Multicenter Retrospective Cohort Study"],"prefix":"10.1002","volume":"7","author":[{"given":"Jian","family":"Zheng","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Radiation Oncology Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute &amp; Hospital National Clinical Research Center for Cancer State Key Laboratory of Druggability Evaluation and Systematic Translational Medicine Key Laboratory of Cancer Prevention and Therapy Tianjin's Clinical Research Center for Cancer  Tianjin China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Wenbin","family":"Shen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Radiotherapy The Fourth Hospital of Hebei Medical University  Shijiazhuang China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jianzhong","family":"Cao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Radiotherapy Shanxi Province Cancer Hospital Shanxi Hospital Affiliated to Cancer Hospital Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences Cancer Hospital Affiliated to Shanxi Medical University  Taiyuan China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2730-7910","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Linrui","family":"Gao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Radiation Oncology Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute &amp; 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