Prognostic role of the lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio for clinical outcomes of patients with progressive radioiodine-refractory differentiated thyroid carcinoma treated by sorafenib

Prognostic Roles of Inflammatory Biomarkers in Radioiodine-Refractory Thyroid Cancer Treated with Lenvatinib

BACKGRUOUND

Inflammatory biomarkers, such as the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio (LMR), and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), serve as valuable prognostic indicators in various cancers. This multicenter, retrospective cohort study assessed the treatment outcomes of lenvatinib in 71 patients with radioactive iodine (RAI)-refractory thyroid cancer, considering the baseline inflammatory biomarkers.

METHODS

This study retrospectively included patients from five tertiary hospitals in Korea whose complete blood counts were available before lenvatinib treatment. Progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were evaluated based on the median value of inflammatory biomarkers.

RESULTS

No significant differences in baseline characteristics were observed among patients grouped according to the inflammatory biomarkers, except for older patients with a higher-than-median NLR (≥2) compared to their counterparts with a lower NLR (P= 0.01). Patients with a higher-than-median NLR had significantly shorter PFS (P=0.02) and OS (P=0.017) than those with a lower NLR. In multivariate analysis, a higher-than-median NLR was significantly associated with poor OS (hazard ratio, 3.0; 95% confidence interval, 1.24 to 7.29; P=0.015). However, neither the LMR nor the PLR was associated with PFS. A higher-than-median LMR (≥3.9) was significantly associated with prolonged OS compared to a lower LMR (P=0.036). In contrast, a higher-than-median PLR (≥142.1) was associated with shorter OS compared to a lower PLR (P=0.039).

CONCLUSION

Baseline inflammatory biomarkers can serve as predictive indicators of PFS and OS in patients with RAI-refractory thyroid cancer treated with lenvatinib.

The potential association of peripheral inflammatory biomarkers in patients with papillary thyroid cancer before radioiodine therapy to clinical outcomes

Purpose

Neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), markers-lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio (LMR), and platelet to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) have potential roles as prognostic biomarkers in various cancers. The study was evaluated to investigate the predictive value of the peripheral inflammatory biomarkers in patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) before radioiodine therapy to the response of clinical outcomes.

Methods

We retrospectively analyzed the patients diagnosed with PTC at the Second Hospital of Shandong University between September 2018 and January 2020. Patients were divided into low and high inflammatory biomarker groups based on median values. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curves (ROC) and logistic regression were used to explore the potential risk factors.

Results

A total of 692 patients were enrolled, which included 197 (28.4%) males and 495 (71.6%) females. The median values of NLR, LMR and PLR of these patients were 1.7 (range 0.3-5.7), 7.1 (range 1.1-23.4) and 137.6 (range 27.6-497.5), respectively, and the mean values were 1.95 ± 0.82, 7.4 ± 2.5 and 148.7 ± 54.8, respectively. Compared to the lower PLR group, the higher group was significantly associated with gender, tumor size, N stage and thyroglobulin level (P<0.05). At the end of follow-up, 75.5% (523/692), 13.3% (91/692), 4.5% (31/692), and 6.7% (47/692) of patients were evaluated as excellent response (ER), indeterminate response (IDR), structural incomplete response (SIR), and biochemical incomplete response (BIR) respectively. In term of clinical outcomes, the NLR, LMR and PLR showed relatively low discriminative power (P≥0.05).

Conclusion

We found that higher PLR values was associated with poor clinicopathological features in PTC. However, the peripheral inflammatory indicators (NLR, LMR and PLR) may be insufficient to predict short-term clinical outcomes of patients with radioiodine therapy.

Preoperative systemic inflammatory markers as prognostic factors in differentiated thyroid cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Inflammation has been associated with tumor development and circulating inflammatory biomarkers have been proposed as possible predictors of recurrence of several solid tumors. However, the role of inflammation markers in differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC) is still uncertain.

OBJECTIVE

This meta-analysis aimed to assess the prognostic value of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio (LMR), and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) in patients with DTC.

METHODS

Studies investigating the association between survival and preoperative circulating inflammatory markers in DTC patients were included. The primary outcome was disease-free survival (DFS). Cumulative logarithms of the hazard ratio (log-HRs) with 95% CI were calculated through the inverse variance method using a random-effects model.

RESULTS

A total of 7599 patients with a mean age of 48.89 (95% CI 44.16-53.63) were included. The estimated pooled log-HRs for DFS were 0.07 for NLR (95% CI -0.12-0.26; p = 0.43), -0.58 for LMR (95% CI -1.21-0.05; p = 0.06), and 0.01 (95% CI 0-0.01; p = 0.21) for PLR.

CONCLUSIONS

Our meta-analysis showed no association between NLR, PLR, LMR and DFS in DTC; however, more prospective data are needed to better define the association between inflammatory status and prognosis of DTC.

Crosstalk between Thyroid Carcinoma and Tumor-Correlated Immune Cells in the Tumor Microenvironment

Thyroid cancer (TC) is the most common malignancy in the endocrine system. Although most TC can achieve a desirable prognosis, some refractory thyroid carcinomas, including radioiodine-refractory differentiated thyroid cancer, as well as anaplastic thyroid carcinoma, face a myriad of difficulties in clinical treatment. These types of tumors contribute to the majority of TC deaths due to limited initial therapy, recurrence, and metastasis of the tumor and tumor resistance to current clinically targeted drugs, which ultimately lead to treatment failure. At present, a growing number of studies have demonstrated crosstalk between TC and tumor-associated immune cells, which affects tumor deterioration and metastasis through distinct signal transduction or receptor activation. Current immunotherapy focuses primarily on cutting off the interaction between tumor cells and immune cells. Since the advent of immunotherapy, scholars have discovered targets for TC immunotherapy, which also provides new strategies for TC treatment. This review methodically and intensively summarizes the current understanding and mechanism of the crosstalk between distinct types of TC and immune cells, as well as potential immunotherapy strategies and clinical research results in the area of the tumor immune microenvironment. We aim to explore the current research advances to formulate better individualized treatment strategies for TC patients and to provide clues and references for the study of potential immune checkpoints and the development of immunotherapy technologies.

Inflammatory biomarkers predict outcomes of patients with radioactive iodine refractory thyroid cancer treated with sorafenib

BACKGROUND

The objective of this multicenter, retrospective cohort study was to evaluate the ability of inflammatory biomarkers representing the host immune system to predict outcomes in 70 patients with progressive radioactive iodine (RAI)-refractory thyroid cancer who were treated with sorafenib.

METHOD

Patients were divided into low and high inflammatory biomarker groups based on median values. Progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were assessed based on the lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio (LMR), neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR).

RESULTS

The median LMR, NLR, and PLR values were 3.4, 2.2, and 140.1, respectively. No significant differences were observed in baseline characteristics of high and low LMR, NLR and PLR groups. Median PFS values were 6.6 and 19.5 months in the low and high LMR groups, respectively (P < 0.001). Compared with the high NLR and PLR groups, PFS was significantly prolonged in the low NLR and PLR groups (P = 0.003 and P = 0.041 respectively). In the multivariate analysis, low LMR and high NLR were associated with poor PFS after adjusting for multiple confounding factors including age, sex, pathology, disease-related symptoms, serum thyroglobulin level, lung-only metastasis, cumulative RAI dose, time from diagnosis, and longer diameter of the target lesion (hazard ratio, HR = 2.42; 95% confidence interval, CI 1.25-4.71; P = 0.009, and HR = 2.09; CI, 1.06-4.14; P = 0.033, respectively). High LMR, low NLR, and low PLR were significantly associated with prolonged OS (P = 0.011, P = 0.023, and P = 0.007, respectively). Patients with at least one risk factors for inflammatory biomarkers presented a significantly lower PFS (HR 2.29; CI, 1.36-3.84; P = 0.003) and OS (HR 2.95; CI, 1.49-5.81; P = 0.006) than patients without any risk factor.

CONCLUSION

Baseline inflammatory biomarkers successfully predicted PFS and OS in patients with progressive RAI-refractory thyroid cancer treated with sorafenib. These prognostic biomarkers might help arrive at appropriate clinical decisions regarding the use of sorafenib.

Feasibility of Apatinib in Radioiodine-Refractory Differentiated Thyroid Carcinoma

OBJECTIVES

Our aim was to describe our experience in using apatinib as treatment for radioiodine-refractory differentiated thyroid carcinoma (RAIR-DTC).

METHODS

Forty-seven patients undergoing apatinib treatment for RAIR-DTC were prospectively enrolled in this study. The study endpoints were objective response rate (ORR), disease control rate (DCR), progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), and rate of adverse events.

RESULTS

No patients achieved complete response, while 36 (76.6%) and 8 (17.0%) patients achieved partial response and stable disease, respectively. The ORR and DCR were 76.6% and 93.6%, respectively. The median PFS and OS were 18 and 59 months, respectively. A total of 91 adverse events occurred, of which 21 were graded as grade 3 or higher. There were no drug-related deaths.

CONCLUSIONS

Apatinib has distinct anti-RAIR-DTC efficacy in terms of ORR, PFS, and OS and has a favorable safety profile. It is a feasible treatment option for RAIR-DTC.

Prognostic Value of Lymphocyte-to-Monocyte Ratio for Japanese Patients With Differentiated Thyroid Cancer Treated With Sorafenib Therapy

BACKGROUND/AIM

We investigated the efficacy and safety of sorafenib in Japanese patients and the prognostic value of systemic immunity markers for predicting clinical outcomes after sorafenib therapy in patients with radioiodine refractory differentiated thyroid cancer (RR-DTC).

PATIENTS AND METHODS

We retrospectively evaluated 26 patients with RR-DTC who underwent sorafenib therapy between July 2014 and December 2020. The systemic immunity markers were calculated from blood cell counts.

RESULTS

The median overall survival (OS) was 2,002 days, and the clinical benefit rate was 80.8%. The high lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio (LMR) group had significantly longer OS than the low LMR group (hazard ratio=0.21; 95% confidence interval=005-0.88; log-rank p=0.019). Adverse events observed in this study were acceptable, and no new safety signals associated with sorafenib were found.

CONCLUSION

Sorafenib therapy is efficacious and safe for Japanese patients with RR-DTC, and baseline LMR may be useful as a sorafenib therapy prognostic marker.

Serum Inflammation-based Scores in Endocrine Tumors

CONTEXT

Serum inflammation-based scores reflect systemic inflammatory response and/or patients' nutritional status, and may predict clinical outcomes in cancer. While these are well-described and increasingly used in different cancers, their clinical usefulness in the management of patients with endocrine tumors is less known.

EVIDENCE ACQUISITION

A comprehensive PubMed search was performed using the terms "endocrine tumor," "inflammation," "serum inflammation-based score," "inflammatory-based score," "inflammatory response-related scoring," "systemic inflammatory response markers," "neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio," "neutrophil-to-platelet ratio," "lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio," "Glasgow prognostic score," "neutrophil-platelet score," "Systemic Immune-Inflammation Index," and "Prognostic Nutrition Index" in clinical studies.

EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS

The neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio and the platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio are the ones most extensively investigated in patients with endocrine tumors. Other scores have also been considered in some studies. Several studies focused in finding whether serum inflammatory biomarkers may stratify the endocrine tumor patients' risk and detect those at risk for developing more aggressive and/or refractory disease, particularly after endocrine surgery.

CONCLUSIONS

In this review, we summarize the current knowledge on the different serum inflammation-based scores and their usefulness in predicting the phenotype, clinical aggressiveness, and disease outcomes and prognosis in patients with endocrine tumors. The value of such serum inflammation-based scores in the management of patients with endocrine tumors has been emerging over the last decade. However, further research is necessary to establish useful markers and their cut-offs for routine clinical practice for individual diseases.

Predictive Value of a Prognostic Model Based on Lymphocyte-to-Monocyte Ratio Before Radioiodine Therapy for Recurrence of Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma

BACKGROUND

The aim of this study was to investigate the predictive value of a prognostic model based on the lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio (LMR) before radioiodine treatment for the recurrence of papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC).

METHODS

Clinicopathological data of 441 patients with papillary thyroid cancer were collected retrospectively. The Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) was used to determine the optimal cut-off value for predicting PTC recurrence by LMR before radioiodine treatment. Recurrence was the endpoint of the study, and survival was estimated by the Kaplan-Meier method, and any differences in survival were evaluated with a stratified log-rank test. Univariate and multifactorial analyses were performed using Cox proportional-hazards models to identify risk factors associated with PTC recurrence.

RESULTS

The ROC curve showed that the best cut-off value of LMR before radioiodine treatment to predict recurrence in patients with PTC was 6.61, with a sensitivity of 54.1%, a specificity of 73%, and an area under the curve of 0.628. The recurrence rate was significantly higher in the low LMR group (16%) than in the high LMR group (5%) (P = 0.001, χ² = 12.005). Multifactorial analysis showed that LMR < 6.61 (P = 0.006; HR = 2.508) and risk stratification (high risk) (P = 0.000; HR = 5.076) before radioiodine treatment were independent risk factors predicting recurrence in patients with PTC. Patients with preoperative LMR < 6.61 and high risk stratification had the lowest recurrence-free survival rate and the shortest recurrence-free survival time.

CONCLUSIONS

The LMR-based prognostic model before radioactive iodine treatment is valuable for early prediction of PTC recurrence and it can be used in clinical practice as a supplement to risk stratification and applied in combination to help screen out patients with poorer prognosis early.

The systemic immune-inflammation index-based model is an effective biomarker on predicting central lymph node metastasis in clinically nodal-negative papillary thyroid carcinoma

Background

A high proportion of papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) patients are involved in central lymph node metastasis (CLNM) with preoperative imaging examinations showing clinically nodal-negative (cN0). Meanwhile, many inflammatory biomarkers are also proven as effective factors to predict the outcomes of cancer patients and tumor progression. Thus, the values of these factors are investigated to help detecting CLNM in cN0 PTC patients.

Methods

406 cN0 PTC patients who underwent curative surgery were retrospectively analyzed. CLNM was determined by histopathological examination following the thyroidectomy. Multiple inflammatory biomarkers were comprehensively researched.

Results

A total of 406 consecutive patients were eventually included. The univariate and multivariate analyses revealed that age (OR: 0.924, 95% CI: 0.909, 0.940), gender (OR: 1.781, 95% CI: 1.060, 2.993), location of tumors (OR: 2.229, 95% CI: 1.228, 4.046) and level of systemic immune-inflammation index (SII) (OR: 1.005, 95% CI: 1.004, 1.006) were independently associated with CLNM in cN0 PTC patients, and the SII-based predictive model was constructed using these four factors. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves showed significant results of the SII-based predictive model in PTC cohort with area under curve (AUC) as 0.814 (95% CI: 0.771-0.857) and in PTMC subgroup with AUC as 0.803 (95% CI: 0.752-0.854).

Conclusions

The SII-based model can effectively help predicting CLNM in both cN0 PTC patients and cN0 PTMC patients.

Inflammatory biomarkers and dynamics of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio in anaplastic thyroid carcinoma

PURPOSE

Studies have shown that inflammatory biomarkers, such as neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), and lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio (LMR), are associated with prognosis or treatment efficacy in various cancers. The present study investigated the association between the inflammatory biomarkers and dynamics of NLR, and prognosis or disease progression in anaplastic thyroid carcinoma (ATC).

METHODS

This study included 55 patients with ATC who had available complete blood count (CBC) data. Overall survival based on inflammatory biomarker value, and the dynamics of NLR among patients with ATC were investigated. Change in NLR was obtained by subtracting the baseline value from the max value obtained during follow-up period, and we subclassified 51 ATC patients who had follow-up CBC data into the increased group (change of NLR > 5.5) and non-increased group (change of NLR ≤ 5.5).

RESULTS

There were no significant differences in OS according to baseline NLR, PLR, and LMR values. Among the 51 patients with ATC who had follow-up CBC data, the median OS was 7.7 [95% confidence interval (CI): 5.2-12.1] months in the increased group (n = 27), versus 23.5 [95% CI: 13.9-not available] months in the non-increased (n = 24) group (p < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

The present study found no association between baseline inflammatory biomarkers and OS among patients with ATC. However, ATC patients whose NLR increased compared with individual baseline during follow-up period had worse prognosis than non-increased patients.

Unmet Clinical Needs in the Treatment of Patients with Thyroid Cancer

The increased incidence of thyroid cancer is a worldwide phenomenon; however, the issue of overdiagnosis has been most prominent in South Korea. The age-standardized mortality rate of thyroid cancer in Korea steeply increased from 1985 to 2004 (from 0.17 per 100,000 to 0.85 per 100,000), and then decreased until 2015 to 0.42 per 100,000, suggesting that early detection reduced mortality. However, early detection of thyroid cancer may be cost-ineffective, considering its very high prevalence and indolent course. Therefore, risk stratification and tailored management are vitally important, but many prognostic markers can only be evaluated postoperatively. Discovery of preoperative marker(s), especially for small cancers, is the most important unmet clinical need for thyroid cancer. Herein, we discuss some such factors that we recently discovered. Another unmet clinical need is better treatment of radioiodine-refractory (RAIR) differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) and undifferentiated cancers. Although sorafenib and lenvatinib are available, better drugs are needed. We found that phosphoglycerate dehydrogenase, a critical enzyme for serine biosynthesis, could be a novel therapeutic target, and that the lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio is a prognostic marker of survival in patients with anaplastic thyroid carcinoma or RAIR DTC. Deeper insights are needed into tumor-host interactions in thyroid cancer to improve treatment.