Artemis as Predictive Biomarker of Responsiveness to Preoperative Chemoradiotherapy in Patients with Locally Advanced Rectal Cancer
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
Comments and Suggestions for Authors
1.The article focused on Artemis as a predictive biomarker for guiding preoperative chemoradiotherapy in locally advanced rectal cancer. I recommend modifying the introduction part with all recently reported relevant references.
2. I am wondering if authors can focus on relapsed and non-relapsed patient group.
3. Additionally, I would recommend mentioning comments whether any gender specific findings or not.
Comments on the Quality of English Language
Minor editing required in body and reference section.
Author Response
Please see the attachment
Author Response File: 
Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
Comments and Suggestions for Authors
The authors in this study aimed to establish Artemis as a predictive biomarker for preoperative chemoradiotherapy in patients with locally advanced rectal cancer. According to the findings, increased Artemis expression is associated with poor treatment response, indicating that it could serve as a predictive biomarker for preoperative chemoradiotherapy for locally advanced rectal cancer. Here are my comments:
1. Figure 1,2 and 4, please include scale bars in the images
2. Figure 3 is missing ?
3. Quantify the artemis immunostaining intensity/percentage of positively stained cells and provide a graphical representation in figure 1 comparing weak, moderate and high expressions.
4. How was the artemis localization to the nucleus determined? Is the immunostaining counterstained/co-stained with any dye for the nuclei as a marker?
5. The authors have analyzed 50 patient samples. Please comment whether this observation can be generalized over a variety of patient demographics and tumor features.
6. To improve comprehension of the patient cohort the authors can provide more detailed information regarding clinical features, including any comorbidities or past therapies.
7. Please comment whether Artemis' expression varies over time throughout therapy.
Author Response
Please see the attachment.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 3 Report
Comments and Suggestions for Authors
The results are previously published. Oncol Res. 2018; 27(1): 29–38. Figure 1
Comments on the Quality of English Language
Moderate editing of English language required
Author Response
Please see the attachment. Thank you!
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Round 2
Reviewer 3 Report
Comments and Suggestions for Authors
Novelty issue has been addressed. Now, there are some minor comments.
1. Statistical significance was not provided in Figures 1b and 2a.
2. It is recommended to indicate the lesions with arrows in Figure 2b.
3. The scale bar in Figure 3 is difficult to identify. Be sure to replace it.
Comments on the Quality of English Language
Minor language polishing is required.
Author Response
Please see the attachment.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Round 3
Reviewer 3 Report
Comments and Suggestions for Authors
All concerns have been well addressed. There is no issue to raise.
Author Response
Thank you.
