Effect of C‐reactive protein/albumin ratio on prognosis in advanced non–small‐cell lung cancer

• DOI: 10.1111/ajco.13055
• Publication Date: 2018-09-04T08:14:42Z
• Authors: Xue‐Feng Ni; Jun Wu; Mei Ji; Ying‐Jie Shao; Bin Xu; Jing‐Ting Jiang; Chang‐Ping Wu
• Keywords: Adult; Aged, 80 and over; Blood Platelets; Male; Lung Neoplasms; Neutrophils; Middle Aged; Prognosis; 3. Good health; Survival Rate; 03 medical and health sciences; C-Reactive Protein; 0302 clinical medicine; ROC Curve; Risk Factors; Albumins; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung; Humans; Female; Lymphocytes; Biomarkers; Aged; Retrospective Studies

AbstractAimSystemic inflammatory response is closely related to tumor progression. We retrospectively investigated relationships between systemic inflammatory scores, C‐reactive protein/albumin (CRP/Alb) ratio (CAR) and clinical characteristics in advanced non–small‐cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in 436 patients to find better clinical predictors of NSCLC prognosis.MethodsBlood specimens were collected 1 week before treatment to test for systemic inflammatory scores and albumin. Patients’ overall survival (OS) was calculated via Kaplan–Meier method. Single‐factor log‐rank and multivariate Cox regression analyses and receiver operating characteristic curves were used to evaluate the prognostic significance of CAR and other systemic inflammatory indexes in predicting OS.ResultsKaplan–Meier method showed that Glasgow prognosis score (GPS), modified GPS (mGPS), neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet/lymphocyte ratio (PLR) and monocyte/lymphocyte ratio (MLR) were reliable prognostic factors for advanced NSCLC. CAR was positively correlated with GPS, mGPS, NLR, PLR and MLR in these patients. CAR was an independent risk factor for OS in advanced NSCLC, and was more closely associated with prognosis than were GPS, mGPS, NLR, PLR or MLR.ConclusionIn advanced NSCLC patients, CAR may be a better predictor of prognosis compared with other inflammatory markers. A prospective multicenter study is needed to verify these findings.