A Survival Analysis of Chinese Patients with Gastrointestinal Mucosal Melanomas: A Single-Centre Retrospective Study

Review Data

Q: Is the topic relevant to the journal area of interest? Is it contemporary and interesting for

researchers?

A: Good

Abstract & Keywords

Q: Are all required components included in the abstract? Are the keywords appropriately chosen?

A: Very good

Goal

Q: Is the goal explicitly stated in the Introduction? Is its formulation clear and unambiguous?

A: Good

Structure

Q: Is the paper's structure coherent? Is it in coherence with the goal of the paper?

A: Very good

Tools and Methods

Q: Are methods the author uses adequate and well used?

A: Good

Discussion & Conclusion

Q: Is it related to the results presented before? Do you consider them as coherent?

A: Very good

Comments: The Discussion section, with the help of adequate relevant literature, determines the significant prognostic factors of patients with gastrointestinal mucosal melanomas. Based on previous findings, it further assesses the association between other important epidemiological factors and overall survival (OS) of patients but there was no significant association found. The limitations are also properly addressed. Lastly, the Conclusion establishes that tumor location and the condition of the primary or metastatic tumor are independent factors that affect the prognosis of patients with gastrointestinal mucosal melanomas and patients with metastatic tumors had a better prognosis than patients with primary tumors, and tumors that occurred in the lower gastrointestinal tract had a better prognosis than those that occurred in the upper gastrointestinal tract. It throws light upon the importance of identifying the accurate prognostic factors that will help clinicians to diagnose this disease.

Literature

Q: Does the author utilize relevant literature?

A: Good

Author's knowledge

Q: What is the level of author’s knowledge? Does the author utilize all recent contributions relevant to the topic?

A: Very good

Length

Q: Is the length of the paper adequate to the significance of the topic? Do you suggest shortening the paper without losing its value?

A: Good

Figures & Tables

Q: Does the author use them suitably? Are legend and notations clear?

A: Very good

Writing style

Q: Is it clear and understandable?

A: Good

Comments:

·       In the 3^rd sentence of the 3^rd paragraph of the Discussion, “of” should be replaced with “for” after “reason”.

·       In the 8^th sentence of the 4^th paragraph of the Discussion, “of” should be replaced with “in” after “differences”.

·       In the last sentence of the 4^th paragraph of the Discussion, “in” should be replaced with “of” after “conclusion”.

·       Words like “latter”, “sample”, “seemed” are misspelled in the text section of the manuscript.

Further comments on the paper

Comments: This single-center retrospective study investigates the characteristics and prognoses of gastrointestinal mucosal melanomas in 49 Chinese patients diagnosed with gastrointestinal mucosal melanomas. This study, by performing multivariate analyses of prognosis and overall survival (OS) using the Cox proportional hazards model, demonstrates that the condition of the primary or metastatic tumor and tumor location are independent factors that affect the prognosis of patients with gastrointestinal mucosal melanomas. It also highlights that patients with metastatic gastrointestinal mucosal melanomas showed a better prognosis than those with primary tumors and tumors that occurred in the lower gastrointestinal tract had a better prognosis than those that occurred in the upper gastrointestinal tract. This study is limited due to incomplete data for certain variables potentially related to the prognosis of patients with gastrointestinal mucosal melanomas, loss of follow-up information and the small sample size which resulted in a potential bias. Further studies including a large number of patients and elaborating on the association between other indicators and the prognosis of patients with gastrointestinal mucosal melanomas are needed to help clinicians accurately assess the prognosis.

Q: Would you recommend this manuscript for further publication?

A: Yes - Suitable to be published

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Science Repository Team