Impact of sex on prognostic host factors in surgical patients with lung cancer

Prognostic Significance of CONUT Score in Elderly NSCLC

PURPOSE

This study evaluated the Controlling Nutritional Status (CONUT) score as a prognostic predictor in elderly non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients with surgical resection.

METHODS

Overall, 114 patients over 80 years old undergoing curative resection for NSCLC were retrospectively analyzed. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was conducted to evaluate the capacity of immune-inflammatory markers to predict overall survival (OS). Cox-proportional hazards regression analysis was implemented to investigate prognostic markers for OS.

RESULTS

Based on ROC curves, the CONUT score was found to be the most valuable prognostic marker (area under the curve = 0.716). The high CONUT (≥2) group included 54 patients, and the low CONUT (0 or 1) group included 60 patients. The high CONUT group had poorer prognosis rates compared to the low CONUT group with regard to OS (5-year OS: 46.3% vs. 86.0%, p = 0.0006). In the multivariate data analysis, histology, lymphatic invasion, and CONUT score (hazard ratio: 4.23, p = 0.0003) were found to be exclusive and independent prognostic markers for OS.

CONCLUSION

Preoperatively, the CONUT score can be used as a novel prognostic marker in elderly NSCLC patients. CONUT evaluations can also be used to design nutritional interventions to improve patient outcomes.

Lung Cancer in Women

BACKGROUND

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death for women in the United States. Clinical characteristics, histology, epidemiology, and treatment responses are unique for women with lung cancer.

METHODS

Literature search of MEDLINE publications from 1989 to 2021 was conducted for lung cancer in women. Subsequent narrative review focused on identified differences in risk factors, diagnosis, and treatment of importance to the surgical care of these patients.

RESULTS

Studies investigating lung cancer, in which sex-differences are explored, demonstrated differences in risk factors, histology, and treatment response among women, with a significant post-surgical survival advantage over men (41.8 months vs 26.8 months, p=0.007) and greater clinical benefit from anti-PD1 combined with chemotherapy (HR=0.44, 95% CI: 0.25-0.76) compared with men (HR=0.76, 95% CI: 0.64-0.91). Smoking remains a dominant risk factor and multiple clinical trials suggest lung cancer screening provides greater benefit for women. However, young non-smoking patients with lung cancer are 2-fold more likely to be female, advocating for broader sex-based screening criteria. Potential roles of genetic mutations, estrogen signaling, and infectious elements in sex-based differences in presentation, histology, prognosis and treatment response are explored.

CONCLUSIONS

Overall, much remains unknown regarding how sex influences lung cancer risk, treatment decisions and outcomes. However, evidence of specific differences in presentation, environmental risk, molecular drivers, and mutational burden support the need to better leverage these sex-associated differences to further improve detection, diagnosis, surgical outcomes and systemic regimens in order to advance the overall care strategy for women with lung cancer.

Prognostic utility of inflammation-based biomarkers, neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio and change in neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio, in surgically resected lung cancers

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE:

Given the poor overall survival (OR) and progression-free survival (PFS) rates for lung cancers managed with surgical resection, there is a need to identify the prognostic markers that would improve the risk stratification of patients with operable lung cancer to inform treatment decisions. We investigate the prognostic utility of two established inflammation-based scores, the neutrophil–lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and the change in neutrophil–lymphocyte ratio (ΔNLR), throughout the operative period in a prospective cohort of patients with lung cancer who underwent surgical resection.

METHODS:

Demographic, clinical, and treatment details for 345 patients with lung cancer who underwent surgical resection between 2000 and 2019 at multiple centers across Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), were prospectively collected. Preoperative NLR and ΔNLR were calculated after which Cox univariate and multivariate analyses were conducted for OS and PFS against the known prognostic factors.

RESULTS:

Both univariate and multivariate analyses showed that preoperative NLR >4.54, as well as day 1 and day 2 postoperative NLR (P < 0.01), was associated with increased risk for postoperative mortality (hazard ratio 1.8; P < 0.01) and PFS (P < 0.05), whereas ΔNLR was not a significant predictor of OS or PFS.

CONCLUSION:

Elevated NLR among patients with lung cancer who underwent surgical resection was prognostic for poor OS and PFS, whereas ΔNLR was not found to be prognostic for either OS or PFS. Further research may yet reveal a prognostic value for ΔNLR when compared across a greater time period.

Preoperative Bilirubin-Adjusted Carbohydrate Antigen 19-9 as a Prognostic Factor for Extrahepatic Cholangiocarcinoma Patients at a Single Center

Purpose

The aims of our study were to investigate the prognostic impact of the rate of preoperative serum carbohydrate antigen 19-9/bilirubin (CA19-9/BR) on patients with extrahepatic bile duct cancer.

Patients and Methods

We collected clinical data from 89 patients who underwent surgery for extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ECC) at Peking Union Medical College Hospital between January 2012 and December 2017. The Kaplan–Meier analysis for univariate analysis and the Cox proportional hazards models for multivariate analysis were used to determine possible independent prognostic factors.

Results

CA19-9/BR was classified as elevated compared with normal based on the upper serum normal values of CA19-9 (37 U/mL) and bilirubin (1.5 mg/dL), which gives a cut-off at 25 U/mL/mg/dL. Univariate analysis showed that the overall survival of patients with a high CA19-9/BR ratio was significantly worse compared with patients with a low CA19-9/BR ratio (Hazard Ratio [HR] 2.149; 95% Confidence Interval [95% CI] 1.027–4.495; P=0.042). Multivariate analysis revealed that a high CA19-9/BR ratio (HR 3.250; 95% CI 1.165–9.067; P=0.024), low differentiation (HR 3.551; 95% CI 1.231–10.244; P=0.019), and positive margin (HR 2.555; 95% CI 1.111–5.875; P=0.027) remained independent prognostic factors after adjusting for age at diagnosis, maximal diameters, and other possible factors.

Conclusion

The preoperative CA19-9/BR ratio is a good prognostic factor in predicting survival in ECC patients and closer follow-up is recommended in patients with a higher CA19-9/BR ratio before surgery.

Preoperative platelet-lymphocyte ratio is a superior prognostic biomarker to other systemic inflammatory response markers in non-small cell lung cancer

Systemic inflammatory response markers are associated with poor survival in many types of malignances. This study aimed to evaluate the prognostic value of preoperative neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), lymphocyte-monocyte ratio (LMR), and C-reactive protein (CRP) in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).We retrospectively evaluated 254 NSCLC patients who underwent radical surgery between January 2012 and April 2014 in the Sichuan Provincial Cancer Hospital. The cut-off values of NLR, PLR, LMR, and CRP were determined according to the receiver operating characteristic curve, and the correlation of NLR, PLR, LMR, and CRP with prognosis was analyzed based on the cut-off value.The cut-off value for NLR, PLR, LMR, and CRP were 3.18, 122, 4.04, and 8.8, respectively. Univariate analysis showed that age (P = .022), tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) stage (P < .001), T stage (P = .001), and N stage (P < .001) were significantly correlated with disease-free survival (DFS), while age (P = .011), TNM stage (P < .001), T stage (P = .008), N stage (P < .001), and PLR (P = .001) were significantly correlated with overall survival (OS). In multivariate analysis, age (hazard ratio [HR]: 1.564, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.087-2.252, P = .016) and TNM stage (HR: 1.704, 95% CI: 1.061-2.735, P = .027) remained independent risk factors affecting DFS, while age (HR: 1.721, 95% CI: 1.153-2.567, P = .008), TNM stage (HR: 2.198, 95% CI: 1.263-3.824, P = .005), and PLR (HR: 1.850, 95% CI: 1.246-2.746, P = .002) were independent risk factors affecting OS.The preoperative PLR is superior to NLR, LMR, and CRP as a biomarker for evaluating the prognosis of patients undergoing curative surgery for NSCLC.

Prognostic value of a novel scoring system using inflammatory response biomarkers in non-small cell lung cancer: A retrospective study

Background

The neutrophil‐to‐lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet‐to‐lymphocyte ratio (PLR), and lymphocyte‐to‐monocyte ratio (LMR) are reported to show a strong correlation with prognosis in patients with non‐small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). We aimed to describe a novel scoring system combining these ratios, termed the inflammatory response biomarker (IRB) score, and test its prognostic value in NSCLC.

Methods

The data of 261 NSCLC patients who underwent thoracoscopic radical resection in a single center were retrospectively reviewed. The IRB score was defined as follows: a high NLR (> 2.12), a high PLR (92.9), and a low LMR (< 4.57) were each scored as 1; the opposite values were scored as 0. The individual scores were added to produce the IRB score (range: 0–3).

Results

Multivariate analyses indicated that high tumor node metastasis (TNM) stage (hazard ratio [HR] 2.721, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.597–4.989; P < 0.001) and an IRB score ≥ 2 (HR 2.696, 95% CI 1.506–4.826; P = 0.001) were independent prognostic factors for poor overall survival. Furthermore, smoking history (HR 2.953, 95% CI 1.086–8.026; P = 0.034), high TNM stage (HR 3.108, 95% CI 1.911–5.056; P < 0.001), and IRB score ≥ 2 (HR = 2.316, 95% CI: 1.389–3.861; P = 0.001) were demonstrated to be independent prognostic factors for poor disease‐free survival.

Conclusion

The novel scoring system combining NLR, PLR, and LMR was an independent prognostic factor in NSCLC patients undergoing thoracoscopic radical resection and was superior to these ratios alone for predicting prognosis.

The prognostic value of serum albumin-globulin ratio in early-stage non-small cell lung cancer: a retrospective study

Background: Previous studies demonstrated a significant association between the albumin-globulin ratio (AGR) and various types of cancers. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prognostic value of preoperative AGR in patients with early-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods: Patients diagnosed as NSCLC in a single center between January 1, 2014 and February 29, 2016 were retrospectively reviewed. AGR was defined as the ratio between the serum albumin level and the serum globulin level. Receiver operating characteristics analysis was performed to determine optimal cutoff values. Overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) were clinical outcomes of our study. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses were used to identify independent prognostic factors, and the Kaplan-Meier method was used to estimate survival curves. Results: A total of 279 early stage NSCLC patients were enrolled in our study with the median follow-up of 39 months (range 1-56 months). The statistical analyses manifested that the age (hazard ratio (HR)=1.045, 95% confidence interval (95% CI): 1.010-1.081, P=0.011) and AGR <1.51 (HR=3.424, 95% CI: 1.600-7.331, P=0.002) were independent prognostic factors for OS; larger tumor (HR=1.211, 95% CI: 1.011-1.450, P=0.038) and AGR <1.51 (HR=2.177, 95% CI: 1.052-4.508, P=0.036) were significantly associated with decreased DFS. Conclusion: The current research reported that the preoperative AGR was an independent prognostic factor for both OS and DFS in early NSCLC, and patients with AGR <1.51 were more likely to have a poor prognosis.

Value of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio for predicting lung cancer prognosis: A meta-analysis of 7,219 patients

Current evidence suggests that the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) may be a biomarker for poor prognosis in lung cancer, although this association remains controversial. Therefore, a meta-analysis was performed to evaluate the association between NLR and lung cancer outcome. A systematic literature search was performed through the PubMed, Embase and Cochrane Library databases (until July 30, 2016), to identify studies evaluating the association between NLR and overall survival (OS) and/or progression-free survival (PFS) among patients with lung cancer. Based on the results of this search, data from 18 studies involving 7,219 patients with lung cancer were evaluated. The pooled hazard ratio (HR) suggested that elevated pretreatment NLR predicted poor OS [HR=1.46, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.30-1.64] and poor PFS (HR=1.42, 95% CI: 1.15-1.75) among patients with lung cancer. Subgroup analysis revealed that the prognostic value of NLR for predicting poor OS increased among patients who underwent surgery (HR=1.50, 95% CI: 1.21-1.84) or patients with early-stage disease (HR=1.64, 95% CI: 1.37-1.97). An NLR cut-off value of ≥4 significantly predicted poor OS (HR=1.56, 95% CI: 1.31-1.85) and PFS (HR=1.54, 95% CI: 1.13-1.82), particularly in the cases of small-cell lung cancer. Thus, the results of the present meta-analysis suggested that an elevated pretreatment NLR (e.g., ≥4) may be considered as a biomarker for poor prognosis in patients with lung cancer.