Reviewer’s report
Title: 
Comorbid early esophageal cancer and Gongylonema pulchrum infection:
a case report
Version: 
0 
Date: 
13 Jun 2021
Reviewer's report:
Review of Manuscript #BMGE-D-21-00115
"Comorbid early esophageal cancer and Gongylonema pulchrum infection: a
case report"
by Zhou et al.
Summary 
The authors present a case study of an individual with confirmed
gongylonemiasis and early esophageal cancer. The images shown are clearly
consistent with gongylonemiasis and the authors hypothesize a potential link
between parasitic infection and cancer. This is a plausible and important
hypothesis to make and while a single case study cannot demonstrate such a
connection, I believe it is worth reporting. 
Major Comments
The manuscript is short, as is the nature of case studies, but requires a broader
citation base to support the authors factual claims. This should be easily
accomplished. I have highlighted below the many instances where there is a need
for supporting citations. 
Minor Comments
Line 39: provide references at the end of each of the two sentences that end on
this line
Line 40: unclear to me what the authors mean by 'fewer than 200 cases without
serious disease' (emphasis added). It implies to me that there are some other
number of cases with serious disease, but I don't believe that is what the authors
intended here. 
Line 44: need citations to support the hypothesis that cancer is induced by the
listed causes. 
line 51: unclear to whom the quote is being attributed
Line 51: unclear what the timeline is. When was the patient admitted to the local
hospital? The admission to the second hospital was August 2018, but how long
was that after the initial visit and worm removal?
Line 87: insert 'a' between 'are' and 'suitable'
line 96: citation needed at end of sentence
line 107: citations needed
line 112: citations needed
line 118: citations needed
Publons Reviewer Recognition
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for the benefit of Publons and you as a reviewer, carefully considering the
sensitivity of such information. For example, Publons may verify your record as
a reviewer by updating your profile published on its webservice if you have
registered for such service or help editors to identify candidate reviewers. Please
find the details of processing in Publons’ privacy policy
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No
Declaration of competing interests
Please complete a declaration of competing
interests, considering the following questions:
1
. 
Have you in the past five years received reimbursements, fees, funding, or
salary from an organisation that may in any way gain or lose financially
from the publication of this manuscript, either now or in the future?
2
. 
Do you hold any stocks or shares in an organisation that may in any way
gain or lose financially from the publication of this manuscript, either now
or in the future?
3
. 
Do you hold or are you currently applying for any patents relating to the
content of the manuscript?
4
. 
Have you received reimbursements, fees, funding, or salary from an
organization that holds or has applied for patents relating to the content of
the manuscript?
5
. 
Do you have any other financial competing interests?
6
. 
Do you have any non-financial competing interests in relation to this
paper?
If you can answer no to all of the above, write 'I declare that I have no competing
interests' below. If your reply is yes to any, please give details below.
I declare that I have no competing interests
Reviewer Publication Consent.
 I agree for my report to be made available
under an Open Access Creative Commons CC-BY License (
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
) if this manuscript is accepted for
publication. Any comments that I do not wish to be included in the published
report have been included as confidential comments to the editor, which will not
be published.
If you are not happy for us to publish this report, please contact the
editorial office before completing the review.
If you wish, you can include your
name in your published report. Please note you must decide whether to include
your name at the start of the process and confirm this decision whenever
prompted. If you change your decision later, we will not be able to publish your
name.
I agree to the terms of the CC-BY 4.0 license; please 
do not
 publish my name
with my report. (default)
Is the study design appropriate to answer the research question (including the use
of appropriate controls), and are the conclusions supported by the evidence
presented?
Yes
Are the methods sufficiently described to allow the study to be repeated?
Yes
Is the use of statistics and treatment of uncertainties appropriate?
Yes
Is the presentation of the work clear?
Yes
Are the images in this manuscript (including electrophoretic gels and blots) free
from apparent manipulation?
Yes
Reviewer’s report
Title: 
Comorbid early esophageal cancer and Gongylonema pulchrum infection:
a case report
Version: 
0 
Date: 
13 Jun 2021
Reviewer's report:
Review of Manuscript #BMGE-D-21-00115
"Comorbid early esophageal cancer and Gongylonema pulchrum infection: a
case report"
by Zhou et al.
Summary 
The authors present a case study of an individual with confirmed
gongylonemiasis and early esophageal cancer. The images shown are clearly
consistent with gongylonemiasis and the authors hypothesize a potential link
between parasitic infection and cancer. This is a plausible and important
hypothesis to make and while a single case study cannot demonstrate such a
connection, I believe it is worth reporting. 
Major Comments
The manuscript is short, as is the nature of case studies, but requires a broader
citation base to support the authors factual claims. This should be easily
accomplished. I have highlighted below the many instances where there is a need
for supporting citations. 
Minor Comments
Line 39: provide references at the end of each of the two sentences that end on
this line
Line 40: unclear to me what the authors mean by 'fewer than 200 cases without
serious disease' (emphasis added). It implies to me that there are some other
number of cases with serious disease, but I don't believe that is what the authors
intended here. 
Line 44: need citations to support the hypothesis that cancer is induced by the
listed causes. 
line 51: unclear to whom the quote is being attributed
Line 51: unclear what the timeline is. When was the patient admitted to the local
hospital? The admission to the second hospital was August 2018, but how long
was that after the initial visit and worm removal?
Line 87: insert 'a' between 'are' and 'suitable'
line 96: citation needed at end of sentence
line 107: citations needed
line 112: citations needed
line 118: citations needed
Publons Reviewer Recognition
. Springer Nature can send verification of this
review directly to Publons (a subsidiary of Clarivate Analytics). If you would
like to take advantage of this service, please click on the “Yes” option below.
Your name, email address, title of the reviewed manuscript, name of the journal,
and date of your review submission (the “Review Data”) will then be transmitted
to Publons after the final decision on the manuscript has been made. If you have
already registered at Publons, they will notify you of the receipt of this review
and update your profile 
as per your settings and their policy. If you are not
registered with Publons, you will receive an email from them asking you to
register in order for them to be able to recognize your review on your new
profile page. Publons may use the Review Data to generate derivative metadata
for the benefit of Publons and you as a reviewer, carefully considering the
sensitivity of such information. For example, Publons may verify your record as
a reviewer by updating your profile published on its webservice if you have
registered for such service or help editors to identify candidate reviewers. Please
find the details of processing in Publons’ privacy policy
https://publons.com/about/terms
No
Declaration of competing interests
Please complete a declaration of competing
interests, considering the following questions:
1
. 
Have you in the past five years received reimbursements, fees, funding, or
salary from an organisation that may in any way gain or lose financially
from the publication of this manuscript, either now or in the future?
2
. 
Do you hold any stocks or shares in an organisation that may in any way
gain or lose financially from the publication of this manuscript, either now
or in the future?
3
. 
Do you hold or are you currently applying for any patents relating to the
content of the manuscript?
4
. 
Have you received reimbursements, fees, funding, or salary from an
organization that holds or has applied for patents relating to the content of
the manuscript?
5
. 
Do you have any other financial competing interests?
6
. 
Do you have any non-financial competing interests in relation to this
paper?
If you can answer no to all of the above, write 'I declare that I have no competing
interests' below. If your reply is yes to any, please give details below.
I declare that I have no competing interests
Reviewer Publication Consent.
 I agree for my report to be made available
under an Open Access Creative Commons CC-BY License (
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
) if this manuscript is accepted for
publication. Any comments that I do not wish to be included in the published
report have been included as confidential comments to the editor, which will not
be published.
If you are not happy for us to publish this report, please contact the
editorial office before completing the review.
If you wish, you can include your
name in your published report. Please note you must decide whether to include
your name at the start of the process and confirm this decision whenever
prompted. If you change your decision later, we will not be able to publish your
name.
I agree to the terms of the CC-BY 4.0 license; please 
do not
 publish my name
with my report. (default)
Is the study design appropriate to answer the research question (including the use
of appropriate controls), and are the conclusions supported by the evidence
presented?
Yes
Are the methods sufficiently described to allow the study to be repeated?
Yes
Is the use of statistics and treatment of uncertainties appropriate?
Yes
Is the presentation of the work clear?
Yes
Are the images in this manuscript (including electrophoretic gels and blots) free
from apparent manipulation?
Yes
Please review this paper.
user
Reviewer’s report
Title: 
Comorbid early esophageal cancer and Gongylonema pulchrum infection:
a case report
Version: 
0 
Date: 
13 Jun 2021
Reviewer's report:
Review of Manuscript #BMGE-D-21-00115
"Comorbid early esophageal cancer and Gongylonema pulchrum infection: a
case report"
by Zhou et al.
Summary 
The authors present a case study of an individual with confirmed
gongylonemiasis and early esophageal cancer. The images shown are clearly
consistent with gongylonemiasis and the authors hypothesize a potential link
between parasitic infection and cancer. This is a plausible and important
hypothesis to make and while a single case study cannot demonstrate such a
connection, I believe it is worth reporting. 
Major Comments
The manuscript is short, as is the nature of case studies, but requires a broader
citation base to support the authors factual claims. This should be easily
accomplished. I have highlighted below the many instances where there is a need
for supporting citations. 
Minor Comments
Line 39: provide references at the end of each of the two sentences that end on
this line
Line 40: unclear to me what the authors mean by 'fewer than 200 cases without
serious disease' (emphasis added). It implies to me that there are some other
number of cases with serious disease, but I don't believe that is what the authors
intended here. 
Line 44: need citations to support the hypothesis that cancer is induced by the
listed causes. 
line 51: unclear to whom the quote is being attributed
Line 51: unclear what the timeline is. When was the patient admitted to the local
hospital? The admission to the second hospital was August 2018, but how long
was that after the initial visit and worm removal?
Line 87: insert 'a' between 'are' and 'suitable'
line 96: citation needed at end of sentence
line 107: citations needed
line 112: citations needed
line 118: citations needed
Publons Reviewer Recognition
. Springer Nature can send verification of this
review directly to Publons (a subsidiary of Clarivate Analytics). If you would
like to take advantage of this service, please click on the “Yes” option below.
Your name, email address, title of the reviewed manuscript, name of the journal,
and date of your review submission (the “Review Data”) will then be transmitted
to Publons after the final decision on the manuscript has been made. If you have
already registered at Publons, they will notify you of the receipt of this review
and update your profile 
as per your settings and their policy. If you are not
registered with Publons, you will receive an email from them asking you to
register in order for them to be able to recognize your review on your new
profile page. Publons may use the Review Data to generate derivative metadata
for the benefit of Publons and you as a reviewer, carefully considering the
sensitivity of such information. For example, Publons may verify your record as
a reviewer by updating your profile published on its webservice if you have
registered for such service or help editors to identify candidate reviewers. Please
find the details of processing in Publons’ privacy policy
https://publons.com/about/terms
No
Declaration of competing interests
Please complete a declaration of competing
interests, considering the following questions:
1
. 
Have you in the past five years received reimbursements, fees, funding, or
salary from an organisation that may in any way gain or lose financially
from the publication of this manuscript, either now or in the future?
2
. 
Do you hold any stocks or shares in an organisation that may in any way
gain or lose financially from the publication of this manuscript, either now
or in the future?
3
. 
Do you hold or are you currently applying for any patents relating to the
content of the manuscript?
4
. 
Have you received reimbursements, fees, funding, or salary from an
organization that holds or has applied for patents relating to the content of
the manuscript?
5
. 
Do you have any other financial competing interests?
6
. 
Do you have any non-financial competing interests in relation to this
paper?
If you can answer no to all of the above, write 'I declare that I have no competing
interests' below. If your reply is yes to any, please give details below.
I declare that I have no competing interests
Reviewer Publication Consent.
 I agree for my report to be made available
under an Open Access Creative Commons CC-BY License (
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
) if this manuscript is accepted for
publication. Any comments that I do not wish to be included in the published
report have been included as confidential comments to the editor, which will not
be published.
If you are not happy for us to publish this report, please contact the
editorial office before completing the review.
If you wish, you can include your
name in your published report. Please note you must decide whether to include
your name at the start of the process and confirm this decision whenever
prompted. If you change your decision later, we will not be able to publish your
name.
I agree to the terms of the CC-BY 4.0 license; please 
do not
 publish my name
with my report. (default)
Is the study design appropriate to answer the research question (including the use
of appropriate controls), and are the conclusions supported by the evidence
presented?
Yes
Are the methods sufficiently described to allow the study to be repeated?
Yes
Is the use of statistics and treatment of uncertainties appropriate?
Yes
Is the presentation of the work clear?
Yes
Are the images in this manuscript (including electrophoretic gels and blots) free
from apparent manipulation?
Yes
assistant