Evaluation of log odds of positive lymph nodes in predicting the survival of patients with non-small cell lung cancer treated with neoadjuvant therapy and surgery: a SEER cohort-based study

BACKGROUND: Log odds of positive lymph nodes (LODDS) is a novel lymph node (LN) descriptor that demonstrates promising prognostic value in many tumors. However, there is limited information regarding LODDS in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), especially those receiving neoadjuvant therapy followed by lung surgery. METHODS: A total of 2059 patients with NSCLC who received neoadjuvant therapy and surgery were identified from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database. We used the X-tile software to calculate the LODDS cutoff value. Kaplan–Meier survival analysis and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis were performed to compare predictive values of the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) N staging descriptor and LODDS. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression and inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW) analyses were conducted to construct a model for predicting prognosis. RESULTS: According to the survival analysis, LODDS had better differentiating ability than the N staging descriptor (log-rank test, P < 0.0001 vs. P = 0.031). The ROC curve demonstrated that the AUC of LODDS was significantly higher than that of the N staging descriptor in the 1-, 3-, and 5-year survival analyses (all P < 0.05). Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses showed that LODDS was an independent risk factor for patients with NSCLC receiving neoadjuvant therapy followed by surgery both before and after IPTW (all P < 0.001). A clinicopathological model with LODDS, age, sex, T stage, and radiotherapy could better predict prognosis. CONCLUSIONS: Compared with the AJCC N staging descriptor, LODDS exhibited better predictive ability for patients with NSCLC receiving neoadjuvant therapy followed by surgery. A multivariate clinicopathological model with LODDS demonstrated a sound performance in predicting prognosis. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12885-022-09908-3.