Prognosis and Nomogram Prediction for Patients with Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma: A Cohort Study
Monika Sakowicz- Burkiewicz
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is the most common type of oral cancer. Identification of new markers involved in the process of development and metastasis of oral cancer will significantly improve the diagnosis and therapy of patients with OSCC.
Xin-Yuan Zhang and colleagues present in their manuscript titled “Prognosis and nomogram prediction for patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma: a cohort study” the new nomogram prediction model (with China data), which may have potential clinical significance to predict the postoperative survival of OSCC. Their results showed that BMI (≥24), pain score (6-8, 9-10), SCC grade and N stage were independent risk factors for deceased. The authors presented nomogram for predicting 3- and 5-year OS in OSCC patients with surgical treatment and this the model had medium accuracy and good differentiation.
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However, the description of the data collection, especially the TNM stage is out of date.
Minor points:
1. Please update the TNM stage classification according to the AJCC 8th edition of staging system
2. Small size of the study group as for retrospective cohort studies
Author Response
Response to Reviewer 1 Comments
Points: Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is the most common type of oral cancer. Identification of new markers involved in the process of development and metastasis of oral cancer will significantly improve the diagnosis and therapy of patients with OSCC.
Xin-Yuan Zhang and colleagues present in their manuscript titled “Prognosis and nomogram prediction for patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma: a cohort study” the new nomogram prediction model (with China data), which may have potential clinical significance to predict the postoperative survival of OSCC. Their results showed that BMI (≥24), pain score (6-8, 9-10), SCC grade and N stage were independent risk factors for deceased. The authors presentednomogram for predicting 3- and 5-year OS in OSCC patients with surgical treatment and this the model had medium accuracy and good differentiation.
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However, the description of the data collection, especially the TNM stage is out of date.
Response : We thanks for your professional comments.
Minor points:
- Please update the TNM stage classificationaccording to the AJCC 8th edition of staging system
Response 2: We thanks for your professional comments. As you are concerned , there are several problems that need to be addressed. In this study, to obtain sufficient follow-up time to improve the accuracy of prognostic studies and nomogram models, we reviewed clinical data from 2014 to 2017. Unfortunately, the AJCC 8th edition of staging system was officially applied on January 1st, 2018. Prior to this date, there was no complete record of the depth of invasion, extralodal invasion, etc. Therefore, it would be very difficult to update the TNM stage according to the new edition. In the following cohort study, we will update the TNM stage classification according to the AJCC 8th edition of the staging system. Thanks for your good comments again.
- Small size of the study group as for retrospective cohort studies
Response 2: Despite previous nomograms about head and neck tumors based on the SEER database with large size, our article is original and based on large sample of chinese population. We will expand the sample size in the following research. Thanks again for your advice.
Author Response File: 
Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
The font in all figures can be increased and p-values added to all figures.
Author Response
Response to Reviewer 2 Comments
Point 1: The font in all figures can be increased and p-values added to all figures.
Response 1: We thanks for your professional concerns. According to your suggestions , we have made extensive corrections to our previous draft.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 3 Report
Despite previous nomograms about head and neck tumors, based on the SER database, the paper is original and based on very large sample of chinese population. It is notable that the behavioral and the social aspects of the chinese population are quite different from those of the world
Author Response
Response to Reviewer 3 Comments
Point 1: Despite previous nomograms about head and neck tumors, based on the SER database, the paper is original and based on very large sample of chinese population. It is notable that the behavioral and the social aspects of the chinese population are quite different from those of the world.
Response 1: Thanks for your professional and nice comments.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 4 Report
The authors of this study were aimed to develop and validate a nomogram with Chinese data that can accurately predict overall survival in individual patients based on available information on patients with OSCC.
The study covers some issues that have been overlooked in other similar topics. The structure of the manuscript appears adequate and well divided in the sections. Moreover, the study is easy to follow, but some issues should be improved. Some of the comments that would improve the overall quality of the study are:
a-) Authors must pay attention to the technical terms acronyms they used in the text;
b-) Conclusion Section: This paragraph required a general revision to eliminate redundant sentences and to add some "take-home message".
Author Response
Response to Reviewer 4 Comments
Point 1: The authors of this study were aimed to develop and validate a nomogram with Chinese data that can accurately predict overall survival in individual patients based on available information on patients with OSCC.
The study covers some issues that have been overlooked in other similar topics. The structure of the manuscript appears adequate and well divided in the sections. Moreover, the study is easy to follow, but some issues should be improved. Some of the comments that would improve the overall quality of the study are:
a-) Authors must pay attention to the technical terms acronyms they used in the text;
Response a: Thanks for your suggestion. We have revised the technical terms acronyms and added them in the revised manuscript.
b-) Conclusion Section: This paragraph required a general revision to eliminate redundant sentences and to add some "take-home message".
Response b: Thanks for your comments. We have eliminated the redundant sentences and added the “take-home message”. Besides, we have polished the lanquage in the revised manuscript by a native English speaker, Vicky Yau, who from the Division of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Columbia Irving Medical Center, New York City, New York, USA. And we hope the revised manuscript could be acceptable for publication.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
