Prognostic value of a novel FPR biomarker in patients with surgical stage II and III gastric cancer

Combining systemic inflammatory response index and albumin fibrinogen ratio to predict early serious complications and prognosis after resectable gastric cancer

BACKGROUND

Gastric cancer has a high incidence and fatality rate, and surgery is the preferred course of treatment. Nonetheless, patient survival rates are still low, and the incidence of major postoperative complications cannot be disregarded. The systemic inflammatory response, nutritional level, and coagulation status are key factors affecting the postoperative recovery and prognosis of gastric cancer patients. The systemic inflammatory response index (SIRI) and the albumin fibrinogen ratio (AFR) are two valuable comprehensive indicators of the severity and prognosis of systemic inflammation in various medical conditions.

AIM

To assess the clinical importance and prognostic significance of the SIRI scores and the AFR on early postoperative outcomes in patients undergoing radical gastric cancer surgery.

METHODS

We conducted a retrospective analysis of the clinicopathological characteristics and relevant laboratory indices of 568 gastric cancer patients from January 2018 to December 2019. We calculated and compared two indicators of inflammation and then examined the diagnostic ability of combined SIRI and AFR values for serious early postoperative complications. We scored the patients and categorized them into three groups based on their SIRI and AFR levels. COX analysis was used to compare the three groups of patients the prognostic value of various preoperative SIRI-AFR scores for 5-year overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS).

RESULTS

SIRI-AFR scores were an independent risk factor for prognosis [OS: P = 0.004; hazards ratio (HR) = 3.134; DFS: P < 0.001; HR = 3.543] and had the highest diagnostic power (area under the curve: 0.779; 95% confidence interval: 0.737-0.820) for early serious complications in patients with gastric cancer. The tumor-node-metastasis stage (P = 0.001), perioperative transfusion (P = 0.044), positive carcinoembryonic antigen (P = 0.014) findings, and major postoperative complications (P = 0.011) were factors associated with prognosis.

CONCLUSION

Preoperative SIRI and AFR values were significantly associated with early postoperative survival and the occurrence of severe complications in gastric cancer patients.

The combination of preoperative fibrinogen-to-albumin ratio and postoperative TNM stage (FAR-TNM) predicts the survival in gastric cancer patients after gastrectomy

OBJECTIVE

There are many factors that affect the survival of patients with gastric cancer, such as TNM stage, the patient's nutritional status, inflammation, and so on. In this study, the prognostic significance of preoperative fibrinogen-to-albumin ratio (FAR) and postoperative TNM staging in patients with gastric cancer was retrospectively studied.

METHODS

A total of 265 patients (surgery dates from January 2007 to December 2013) were included in this retrospective study. All the patients were confirmed by pathology after operation. Categorical variables were compared using the χ2 test. Kaplan-Meier and log-rank tests were used for survival analysis. Cox proportional hazard models were used to assess prognostic factors. Nomogram was applied to predict the prognosis of overall survival (OS).

RESULTS

The higher the FAR value, the more lymph node metastasis, the later the TNM stage, and the shorter the survival time. We established a new scoring system, the FAR-TNM score, which combined FAR and TNM stage. The FAR-TNM score was significantly related to tumor location, tumor size, Bormann types, differentiation, operative type, vascular invasion, nerve invasion, depth of invasion, lymphatic metastasis, and advanced TNM stage. Multivariate Cox regression analysis demonstrated that tumor location, TNM stage, adjuvant chemotherapy, and FAR-TNM score were independent prognostic elements for OS in patients with GC.

CONCLUSIONS

The FAR-TNM score was a valuable independent prognostic indicator for GC patients after surgery, which can help clinicians to assist the treatment and long-term management of patients with gastric cancer.

Application of Monocyte-to-Albumin Ratio and Neutrophil Percentage-to-Hemoglobin Ratio on Distinguishing Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Patients from Healthy Subjects

Objective

This study aims at assessing the potential benefits of observation of monocyte-to-albumin ratio (MAR) and neutrophil percentage-to-hemoglobin ratio (NPHR) in the detection of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Methods

This study retrospectively involved 195 NSCLC patients and 204 healthy volunteers. The correlations between the clinicopathological characteristics of NSCLC and the two ratios including MAR and NPHR were assessed. The diagnostic efficiency of NSCLC patients by MAR and NPHR, alone or in combination with carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), was assessed by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. The risk factors for NSCLC were analyzed with binary logistic regression.

Results

Compared to healthy controls, the levels of MAR and NPHR in NSCLC patients were elevated. MAR and NPHR were related to clinicopathologic characteristics and increased significantly along with the progression of NSCLC. The area under the curve (AUC) for 95% confidence interval (95% CI) of MAR and NPHR in the diagnosis of NSCLC was 0.812 (0.769-0.854) and 0.724 (0.675-0.774), respectively. The combination of MAR, NPHR, and CEA achieved the highest diagnostic utility compared to each individually or combined markers (AUC, 0.86; 95% CI, 0.824-0.896; sensitivity, 72.8%; specificity, 87.3%). Further analysis showed that MAR combined with NPHR presented the potential to detect early-stage (IA-IIB) NSCLC (AUC, 0.794; 95% CI, 0.743-0.845; sensitivity, 55.1%; specificity, 87.7%). The result indicated that MAR and NPHR might be risk factors for NSCLC.

Conclusion

MAR and NPHR could be novel and effective auxiliary indexes in the detection of NSCLC, especially when combined with CEA.

Data of postoperative complications related to fibrinogen-to-albumin ratio in pancreatic resections

Pancreatic surgery is one of the surgeries burdened with the highest mortality and morbidity rate. This is due both to the aggressive biological nature of the pathology affecting the organ and to the technical difficulties associated with surgery. A further aspect on which research is focusing is represented by inflammation related to oncological pathology. Inflammation plays an important role in tumor progression, and growing evidence has confirmed that the fibrinogen-to-albumin ratio (FAR) is an important prognostic factor for overall survival (OS) in malignant tumors.

Inflammatory markers had demonstrated also a role in the prediction of postoperative complication after pancreatic surgery.

We speculate that FAR, as an easily available, cost-effective, and non-invasive prognostic indicator for pancreatic cancer patients, could help to identify patients at increased risk of postoperative pancreatic fistula (POPF). We therefore retrospectively analyzed the data relating to 117 pancreatic resections relating direct and indirect markers of inflammation with the incidence of post-operative complications.

Albumin/fibrinogen ratio, a predictor of chemotherapy resistance and prognostic factor for advanced gastric cancer patients following radical gastrectomy

Background

The objective of this study was to investigate potential predictors of chemotherapy resistance in patients with advanced gastric cancer (GC) following radical gastrectomy.

Methods

Eligible stage II/III GC patients with adjuvant chemotherapy after radical gastrectomy were enrolled in this study. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was performed to assess the predictive and optimal cut-off values of continuous variables for chemotherapy resistance. Potential risk factors for chemotherapy resistance were determined with binary univariate and multivariate analyses. Potential prognostic factors for overall survival (OS) were determined by COX regression analysis. The association between survival and AFR level was examined using the Kaplan–Meier curve analysis.

Results

A total of 160 patients were included in the data analysis, and 41 patients achieved chemotherapeutic resistance with an incidence of 25.6%. Pretreatment albumin/fibrinogen ratio (AFR) (cut-off value: 10.85, AUC: 0.713, P < 0.001) was a predictor for chemotherapeutic resistance by ROC curve analysis. Low AFR (< 10.85) was an independent risk factor of chemotherapeutic resistance as determined by the univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses (OR: 2.55, 95%CI: 1.21–4.95, P = 0.005). Multivariate COX regression analyses indicated low AFR as a prognostic factor for 5-year OS (HR: 0.36, 95%CI: 0.15–0.73, P = 0.011). Low AFR was associated with poorer 5-year disease-free survival and overall survival.

Conclusions

This study indicated that a low level of pretreatment AFR could serve as an independent predictor of chemotherapy resistance and postoperative prognosis in GC patients following radical gastrectomy.

The Prognostic value of the Fibrinogen to pre-albumin ratio in malignant tumors of the digestive system: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background

In recent years, the Fibrinogen to pre-albumin ratio (FPR) has been reported in many studies to be significantly associated with the prognosis of various cancers. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to investigate the prognostic value of FPR in malignant tumors of the digestive system based on available evidence.

Methods

The relevant articles published before July 1, 2021, were systematically retrieved from electronic databases to evaluate the effect of Fibrinogen to pre-albumin ratio (FPR) on the prognosis of patients with malignant digestive system tumors and calculate the hazard ratio (HR) and the corresponding 95% confidence interval (CI).

Result

Thirteen articles, all from China, including 15 cohort studies and a total of 5116 cases, were included in this study. A high FPR was associated with poor overall survival (HR = 1.88, 95%CI 1.53–2.32, P < 0.001), recurrence-free survival (HR = 2.29, 95%CI 1.91–2.76, P < 0.001), progression-free survival (HR = 1.96, 95%CI: 1.33–2.90, P = 0.001), complications (HR = 1.78, 95%CI: 1.06–3.00, P = 0.029), disease-free survival (HR = 1.46, 95%CI: 1.08–1.97, P = 0.013) was significantly associated with cancer-specific survival (HR = 1.44, 95%CI: 1.15–1.79, P = 0.001). Even though intergroup differences were present, FPR was strongly associated with overall and relapse-free survival, and sensitivity analysis suggested that our results were stable.

Conclusion

FPR can be used as a valuable indicator to predict the prognosis of patients with malignant digestive system tumors.

Diagnostic value of combined prealbumin-to-fibrinogen and albumin-to-fibrinogen ratios in Hp-negative gastric cancer

BACKGROUND

This study aimed to investigate the diagnostic value of prealbumin-to-fibrinogen ratio (PFR) and albumin-to-fibrinogen ratio (AFR) alone or in combination in Helicobacter pylori-negative gastric cancer (Hp-NGC) patients.

METHODS

This study included 171 healthy controls, 180 Hp-NGC patients, and 215 Helicobacter pylori-negative chronic gastritis (HpN) patients. We compared the differences of various indicators and pathological characteristics between groups with Mann-Whitney U test and Chi-square test. The diagnostic value of PFR and AFR alone or in combination for Hp-NGC patients was assessed by the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve.

RESULTS

PFR and AFR were related to the progression and clinicopathological characteristics of Hp-NGC. As the disease progressed, PFR and AFR values gradually decreased and were negatively related to the tumor size and depth of invasion. In addition, the area under the curves (AUCs) that resulted from combining PFR and AFR to distinguish Hp-NGC patients from healthy controls and HpN patients were 0.908 and 0.654, respectively. When combined with PFR and AFR in the differential diagnosis of tumors with a maximum diameter ≥ 5 cm and the T3 + T4 stage, the AUCs were 0.949 and 0.922; the sensitivity was 86.32% and 80.74%; and the specificity was 94.74% and 92.98%, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

PFR and AFR may be used as diagnostic biomarkers for Hp-NGC. The combination of PFR and AFR was more valuable than each indicator alone in the diagnosis of Hp-NGC.

The value of circulating fibrinogen-to-pre-albumin ratio in predicting survival and benefit from chemotherapy in colorectal cancer

Background:

To evaluate the prognostic role of circulating fibrinogen-to-pre-albumin (FPR) in colorectal cancer (CRC) with different tumor locations, and its involvement in chemosensitivity and chemoresistance.

Patients and methods:

A total of 2917 eligible CRC patients from multiple centers were enrolled in this prospective study, and 3 years follow-up was carried out to obtain the outcome of these patients. Circulating fibrinogen (Fib), pre-albumin (pAlb), carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), and carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA19-9) were detected, and we calculated FPR according to the detected results. Kaplan–Meier curves, Cox proportional regression, time-dependent receiver operating characteristic curves, Harrell’s concordance index, calibration, and decision curves were used to investigate the role of FPR in predicting chemotherapy efficacy and prognosis of CRC patients.

Results:

Our results showed that cancer bulk, its infiltrating depth, and the distal metastasis status of CRC determined circulating FPR levels. A high FPR was associated with a significantly inferior prognosis, while the outcomes of right-sided patients with stage III and IV CRC were worse than left-sided cases. Only FPR was found to be a reliable and independent prognostic factor for each stage of CRC. In addition, the prognostic FPR-contained nomograms were superior to the non-FPR nomograms and FPR in predicting the outcomes in both localized and metastatic CRC patients. The circulating FPR was significantly associated with chemotherapeutic efficacy in stage III and IV CRC patients. In particular, low-grade (FPR < 15) and medium-grade (15 ⩽ FPR < 20) FPR patients exhibited a complete response to chemotherapy and attenuated chemosensitivity, respectively; in contrast, high-grade inflammation (FPR ⩾ 20) conferred resistance to the treatment.

Conclusion:

Circulating FPR is a robust and independent prognostic factor, a simple and economically-friendly predictor of chemotherapy efficacy within cases of localized and metastatic CRC. FPR-contained nomograms are more effective in predicting the prognosis of these patients. FPR and the nomogram can be recommended for the evaluation of chemotherapy efficacy and to aid decision-making associated with the management of these patients.

Prognostic Significance of the Preoperative Albumin/Fibrinogen Ratio in Patients with Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma after Surgical Resection

Purpose: The purpose of the present study was to investigate the prognostic value of inflammatory and nutritional-based scores, including the albumin/fibrinogen ratio (AFR) and albumin/globulin ratio (AGR), in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC).

Methods: The medical records of 641 patients with resectable ESCC from our institution were retrospectively analyzed. The preoperative AFR and AGR were investigated based on serum albumin, globulin and plasma fibrinogen levels. X-tile software, Kaplan-Meier survival curves and Cox proportional hazard models were performed to identify their prognostic value. The predictive accuracy was evaluated by the concordance index (C-index), calibration plots, and decision curve analysis (DCA).

Results: The optimal cutoff values were 15.3 and 1.8 for AFR and AGR, respectively. Univariate survival analysis identified age, smoking history, tumor size, pT status, pN status, NLR, PLR, fibrinogen, albumin, AFR, and AGR as factors associated with overall survival. Multivariate analysis indicated that preoperative AFR (HR: 0.690, 95% CI = 0.495~0.960, P = 0.028), rather than other inflammation- and nutrition-based scores, was an independent predictor of overall survival. The C-index of the predicted nomogram containing AFR (C-index = 0.677) was higher than that of the nomogram without AFR (C-index = 0.656). The calibration curves showed that the predictive abilities were consistent with the actual observation results. Moreover, compared with the traditional staging system, the results of DCA showed that the nomogram had superior predictive ability and higher clinical utility.

Conclusion: Our preliminary study suggested that a low preoperative AFR might be a novel and valuable predictor of poor prognosis in patients with ESCC, which may be helpful for prognosis assessment, patient counseling, and therapeutic modality selection.

High-Grade Inflammation Attenuates Chemosensitivity and Confers to Poor Survival of Surgical Stage III CRC Patients

Background: Heterogeneous clinical and molecular characteristics are reported in colorectal cancer (CRC) with different tumor laterality. However, the outcome of left- and right-sided patients with stage I–III CRC and the role of chronic inflammation in survival differences between them remain unclear.

Method: A prospective study including 1,181 surgical patients with stage I–III CRC was carried out to investigate the involvement of circulating fibrinogen-to-pre-albumin (Alb) ratio (FPR) and primary tumor sidedness in the clinical outcome of those patients. We further investigated the effect of FPR on adjuvant chemotherapy response and recurrence in stage III patients.

Results: Our study showed that the right tumor location was significantly associated with poor recurrence-free survival (RFS) (p = 0.04, adjusted HR = 1.41, 95% CI = 1.02–1.94) and overall survival (OS) (p = 0.04, adjusted HR = 1.55, 95% CI = 1.01–2.38) only in the stage III disease. In these patients, T4 stage distribution (83.39 vs. 70.94%, p < 0.01) within right-sided cases was significantly higher than left-sided patients. Moreover, preoperative FPR within right-sidedness (p < 0.01), T4 stage (p < 0.05), and large cancer bulk (≥5 cm) (p < 0.05) subgroups was significantly elevated compared to their counterparts, and it was gradually rising following the increased cancer bulk (p trend < 0.01). High-FPR distribution (52.30 vs. 27.00%, p < 0.01) within right-sided patients with the stage III disease was significantly higher than that in the left-sided cases. RFS (p_log−rank < 0.01) and OS (p_log−rank < 0.01) of the high-FPR patients were extremely inferior to the low-FPR cases, and the significant associations were observed when they were adjusted by other confounders including primary tumor location (p < 0.01, adjusted HR = 1.96, 95% CI = 1.42–2.70 for RFS; p < 0.01, adjusted HR = 2.44, 95% CI = 1.59–3.75 for OS). Additionally, RFS of adjuvant chemotherapy-treated high-FPR patients was superior to the patients without chemotherapy (p_log−rank = 0.01) but was inferior to the low-FPR patients undergoing the treatment, especially in the 5-FU- and XELOX-treated subgroup.

Conclusion: These findings indicate that chronic high-grade inflammation weakens chemotherapy efficacy and contributes to the poor prognosis of stage III surgical CRC patients.

Role of Chronic Inflammatory Ratios in Predicting Recurrence of Resected Patients with Stage I-III Mucinous Colorectal Adenocarcinoma

Background

Cancer-related inflammation is the main cause of the progression of mucinous colorectal adenocarcinoma (MCA). Circulating fibrinogen-to-pre-albumin ratio (FPR) is associated with the clinical outcome in colorectal cancer (CRC). However, the prognostic role of FPR and which is the best inflammatory prognostic biomarker within MCA remain unknown.

Methods

We enrolled 157 patients with stage I–III MCA in this study. Kaplan-Meier curve, Cox regression, and time-dependent receiver operation characteristic curve analysis were performed to assess the prognostic value and efficacy of the neutrophil-to-albumin ratio (NAR), neutrophil-to-pre-albumin ratio (NPAR), albumin-to-alkaline phosphatase ratio (AAPR), albumin-to-globulin ratio (AGR), albumin-to-fibrinogen ratio (AFR), and FPR in these patients.

Results

We found that NAR, NPAR, and FPR were significantly associated with unsatisfactory recurrence-free survival (RFS) in patients with stage I–III MCA, and the predicted efficacy of FPR was superior to that of the other two inflammatory biomarkers. Moreover, patients with a high combined TNM-CA199-FPR score had worse outcomes, with a high predicted efficacy of up to 0.779 (0.703–0.856). Using FPR, the patient was monitored for the recurrence up to two months earlier than that achieved using the common imaging techniques (4 vs 6 median months) in stage I–III MCA patients undergoing radical resection.

Conclusion

FPR is the preferred inflammatory biomarker and commonly used for predicting and monitoring recurrence in stage I–III MCA patients. The combined TNM-CA199-FPR score is an economical, simple, effective, and independent prognostic factor for localized disease.

Combined fibrinogen-to-pre-albumin ratio and carbohydrate antigen 19-9 score is a promising metric to predict progression of metastatic colorectal mucinous adenocarcinoma

BACKGROUND

Chronic inflammation is a hallmark of colorectal mucinous adenocarcinoma (CMA). Albumin-to-fibrinogen ratio (AFR) and fibrinogen-to-pre-albumin ratio (FPR) were independent prognostic factors for many kinds of solid malignancies. However, the association between the inflammatory scores and progression of metastatic CMA remains unknown.

METHODS

Peripheral blood neutrophil count and circulating fibrinogen, albumin, and pre-albumin levels were detected, and neutrophil-to-albumin ratio (NAR), neutrophil-to-pre-albumin ratio(NPAR), AFR, and FPR were calculated in 42 metastatic MCA patients. Kaplan-Meier curve, Cox regression, time-dependent receiver operating characteristic curve (tdROC) were selected to investigate the prognostic utility of them in the patients.

RESULTS

Metastatic CMA patients commonly occurred in middle-younger patients (80.95%). NPAR (adjusted hazard ratio (HR)=2.405, 95% confidence interval (CI)=1.195-4.842) and FPR (p_log-rank =0.007, adjusted HR=2.364, 95% CI=1.203-4.645) were significantly associated with poor progression-free survival in these patients. The prognostic prediction area under tdROC (AUROC) of FPR was significantly higher than that of NPAR(0.703 versus 0.537). Moreover, the patients with a high CA19-9-FPR score showed worse outcomes than those with the low score (p_log-rank <0.001, adjusted HR=7.273, 95% CI=2.721-19.435 for the score 1 versus 0). The prediction AUROC, sensitivity, and specificity of the score were 0.892 (0.788-0.996), 76.32%, and 100.00%, respectively, and its predicted efficacy was better than that of the single biomarkers.

CONCLUSION

The combined CA19-9-FPR score is an economical, simple, effective, and independent prognostic factor for metastatic MCA.

Research Progress of Preoperative FPR, FAR or AFR in Patients with Colorectal Cancer

Research has confirmed that plasma albumin (Alb), prealbumin (PA) and fibrinogen (Fib) are involved in regulating the occurrence and development of various tumors. Their levels in peripheral blood are related to the survival outcome and treatment response of patients, but the accuracy and specificity of single application have yet to be fully realized. A growing amount of evidence indicates that predictors such as preoperative fibrinogen to prealbumin ratio (FPR), fibrinogen to albumin ratio (FAR) or albumin to fibrinogen ratio (AFR) are emerging as comprehensive indicators. Indeed, their components play a key regulatory role in the progression of colorectal cancer (CRC). Preoperative FPR, FAR or AFR levels, therefore, are expected to become new biomarkers for prognosis evaluation and curative effect prediction for CRC patients and are significant in the guidance they could provide for the development of individualized treatment strategies.

Albumin and the fibrinogen-to-albumin ratio: Biomarkers for the acute phase response following total knee arthroplasty

PURPOSE

Complications following total knee arthroplasty (TKA) lead to patient morbidity and cost. While acute phase reactants, such as c-reactive protein (CRP) and fibrinogen, have been used to predict complications following TKA, the extent and duration of changes in albumin levels following TKA are unknown. It is hypothesized that like CRP and fibrinogen, albumin, and the fibrinogen/albumin ratio (FAR) represent useful measures of the acute phase response (APR) following TKA. The purpose of this study was to describe the longitudinal course of albumin and FAR in healthy patients following TKA, relative to established biomarkers, and examine if the variance in albumin or FAR correlates with patient comorbidities.

METHODS

This retrospective cohort study of patients undergoing TKA at a tertiary medical center. CRP, fibrinogen, and albumin values were collected pre- and post-operatively. An age-adjusted Charlson comorbidity index (CCI) was utilized as a measure of patient comorbidity status.

RESULTS

The median preoperative albumin value was 4.3 g/dL, which dropped to 3.6 g/dL on postoperative day 1 following TKA. The albumin value returned to 93% of the baseline by postoperative week 2. The course of albumin inversely mirrored the course of CRP (r = -0.41). Median preoperative FAR was 0.087 g/L, which rose to 0.130 g/L by postoperative week 2 and returned to baseline by postoperative week 6. While preoperative FAR strongly correlated with postoperative week 2 values (r = 0.74), there was a weak positive correlation between age-adjusted CCI and pre-operative FAR (r = 0.24) in patients undergoing primary TKA.

CONCLUSION

Albumin levels follow a predictable postoperative decline that inversely correlates with CRP in healthy patients following TKA. Given the low cost and abundance of laboratories offering albumin levels, direct albumin levels and/or albumin ratios such as FAR may be underutilized biomarkers for monitoring the APR following TKA.

The Role of Cancer-Elicited Inflammatory Biomarkers in Predicting Early Recurrence Within Stage II-III Colorectal Cancer Patients After Curable Resection

Background

Smoldering cancer-related inflammation attenuates chemotherapy efficacy and contributes to unsatisfactory outcome for patients of colorectal cancer (CRC). Various inflammation-based biomarkers were reported to predict the survival of the disease, however, it remains unclear which is the best inflammation-based biomarker. The aim of present study was to compare the prognostic role of those biomarkers and to establish superior survival score for post-recurrence survival in radically operative patients with stage II–III CRC.

Patients and Methods

Preoperative peripheral neutrophil, lymphocyte, monocyte, platelet, serum albumin (Alb), pre-Alb, and plasma fibrinogen (Fib) were detected in the discovery and validation cohort which included a total of 1533 stage II–III surgical CRC patients. We calculated and compared fourteen inflammation-based biomarkers for predicting recurrence-free survival (RFS) of the patients with stage II–III CRC.

Results

In this study, the platelet to lymphocyte ratio (PLR), lymphocyte to monocyte (LMR), systemic inflammation response index (SIRI), prognostic nutritional index (PNI), systemic immune-inflammation index (SII), modified systemic inflammation score (mSIS), fibrinogen and neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio score (F-NLR), ratio of Alb to Fib (AFR), and ratio of Fib to pre-Alb (FPR) were all related to the RFS of the patients in both discovery and validation cohorts, however, only the LMR, SIRI, PNI, mSIS, F-NLR, AFR and FPR remained independent predictors for RFS in multivariate analysis. Both the C-index of the FPR (0.629 for 36 months) and the areas under the time-dependent receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves (0.625 for 12 months, 0.641 for both 24 and 0.637 months) showed that it was superior to the other inflammation-based prognostic scores for predicting the RFS of stage II–III surgical CRC patients. Moreover, elevated FPR was significantly associated with unsatisfactory RFS regardless of TNM stage and primary tumor location. Stage II low FPR patients showed the best RFS regardless of chemotherapy. The better RFS was observed in chemotherapy-treated stage II high FPR patients than those without the treatment, and the outcomes of patients with treatment of XELOX, capecitabine and XELOX were superior to the other regimens to treat patients in stage III low- and high-FPR populations, respectively. Additionally, the carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA)-FPR combined score one (adjusted HR=2.764, 95% CI=2.129–3.589) and two (adjusted HR=3.543, 95% CI=2.317–5.420) were extremely associated with RFS of these patients, and the predicted AUC of the combined score for 12, 24 and 36 months were 0.657, 0.657 and 0.653 in stage II–III patients, which were superior to the single CEA and FPR, respectively.

Conclusion

In conclusion, FPR is superior to the other inflammatory biomarkers as a useful recurrence indicator in stage II–III surgical CRC patients in terms of prognostic ability; it helps to choose the effective chemotherapy regimen and to increase the predicted efficacy of CEA and the combined CEA and FPR score could effectively predict recurrence of the patients.

Prognostic Significance of Preoperative Fibrinogen-to-Prealbumin Ratio in Patients with Stage I-III Colorectal Cancer Undergoing Surgical Resection: A Retrospective Cohort Study

Background

The objective of this study was to explore the role of preoperative fibrinogen-to-prealbumin ratio (FPR) in evaluating the prognosis of patients with stage I–III colorectal cancer (CRC).

Methods

This retrospective study enrolled 584 stage I–III CRC patients undergoing surgical resection. Logistic regression analysis was used to explore the correlation between FPR and postoperative complications. The Kaplan-Meier curve and Cox proportional hazards model were used to identify the prognostic factors. The nomograms were constructed based on the prognostic factors. The concordance index and calibration curve were used to determine the accuracy of the nomograms. Time-dependent receiver operating characteristic was used to compare the predictive prognostic efficacy of nomograms and TNM stage.

Results

FPR was determined to be an independent factor affecting postoperative complications. Patients with a low-FPR had a significantly better prognosis than those with a high-FPR (disease-free survival, p = 0.028; overall survival, p = 0.027), especially patients with stage I CRC (disease-free survival, p = 0.015; overall survival, p = 0.017). The Cox proportional hazards model identified FPR as an independent poor prognostic factor of disease-free survival (hazard ratio (HR) = 1.459, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.074–1.954, p = 0.011) and overall survival (HR = 1.405, 95% CI = 1.034–1.909, p = 0.030). The prognostic nomograms had good accuracy and were superior to the traditional TNM stage.

Conclusions

FPR is a potential indicator for predicting short- and long-term prognosis of stage I–III CRC patients undergoing surgical resection.

Relationship Between Fibrinogen to Albumin Ratio and Prognosis of Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors: A Retrospective Cohort Study

Objective

The fibrinogen to albumin ratio (FAR) is an important parameter that reflects the coagulation state, systemic inflammation, and nutritional status of a patient and plays an essential role in tumor progression. Here, we evaluate the prognostic significance of FAR in gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) patients that underwent radical surgery.

Methods

We retrospectively analyzed the data of 227 GIST patients that underwent radical surgery in Beijing Hospital from October 2004 to July 2018. We drew a curve of receiver operating characteristics to confirm the optimal critical values for hemoglobin (Hb), prognostic nutrition index (PNI), and FAR. Cox regression analysis and the Kaplan–Meier method were used to assess the prognostic factors.

Results

The FAR optimal critical value for postoperative recurrence-free survival (RFS) was 0.09. Many significant factors, including approach, the location and size of the tumor, mitotic index, risk classification, Hb levels, PNI, and recurrence, affect FAR. Multivariate analysis indicated that for patients with GISTs who underwent surgery, the tumor location (hazard ratio [HR]=3.393, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.539–7.479, P=0.002), mitotic index (HR=4.788, 95% CI: 1.836–12.486, P=0.001), tumor rupture (HR=10.954, 95% CI: 2.170–55.296, P=0.004), and FAR (HR=3.093, 95% CI: 1.303–7.339, P=0.010) were independent factors affecting RFS. Moreover, the FAR remained of prognostic significance for GIST stratified by subgroup analysis.

Conclusion

Preoperative FAR is a reliable marker for evaluating the prognosis of GIST, the prognostic ability of FAR is significantly better than Hb and PNI.

Combining the Fibrinogen-to-Pre-Albumin Ratio and Prognostic Nutritional Index (FPR-PNI) Predicts the Survival in Elderly Gastric Cancer Patients After Gastrectomy

Background

Inflammation and nutrition are important causes contributing to the progression and poor survival of gastric cancer (GC). The objective of this study is to investigate the prognostic significance of the preoperative fibrinogen-to-pre-albumin ratio (FPR) and the prognostic nutritional index (PNI) in GC patients who have undergone gastrectomy.

Methods

A total of 274 patients with resected pathological GC from January 2007 to December 2013 were enrolled in this retrospective study. Survival analysis was performed using Kaplan–Meier and log rank tests. Univariate and multivariate analyses were established to identify independent prognostic factors of 5-year survival. A predictive nomogram was used to predict prognosis of overall survival (OS), and its accuracy was determined by Harrell’s concordance index (C index).

Results

A high preoperative FPR-PNI score was significantly correlated with age, bigger tumor size, more lymphatic metastases and advanced TNM stage. Univariate analysis revealed that the GC patients with high FPR, low PNI and high FPR-PNI scores had shorter survival time. Multivariate analysis showed that FPR-PNI was an independent prognostic factor for OS in GC patients, especially in elderly patients. In the sub-analysis by age, the FPR-PNI score could significantly increase the accuracy of prognosis compared with the FPR and PNI alone in elderly GC patients.

Conclusion

The preoperative FPR-PNI score is an effective independent prognostic index for GC patients after surgery, especially in elderly patients.

Prognostic value of fibrinogen-to-albumin ratio in patients with gastric cancer receiving first-line chemotherapy

The fibrinogen-to-albumin ratio (FAR), reflecting the systemic coagulation, nutritional and inflammation status of patients, has matured into a prognostic marker for several tumor types. However, only a few studies have assessed the utility of the FAR as a prognostic indicator in patients with advanced gastric cancer (GC) receiving first-line chemotherapy. In the present study, 273 patients with advanced GC who received first-line chemotherapy between January 2014 and January 2019 at the Cancer Hospital of China Medical University (Shenyang, China) were retrospectively analyzed. Using the cut-off values determined by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis, the patients were divided into low-FAR (≤10.03) and high-FAR (>10.03), low-fibrinogen (<3.8 g/l) and high-fibrinogen (≥3.8 g/l), and low-albumin (<40.55 g/l) and high-albumin (≥40.55 g/l) groups. The associations of the pretreatment FAR and clinicopathological characteristics with progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were evaluated. In order to estimate the prognostic value of the FAR for patients with poor prognosis or normal fibrinogen and albumin levels, subgroup analyses were performed. The FAR had a higher area under the ROC curve (0.690; 95% CI: 0.628–0.752; P<0.001) compared with either fibrinogen or albumin alone, which are common indicators of coagulation, nutritional and inflammatory indices. A high FAR was significantly associated with a more advanced stage, peritoneal metastasis, increased CA72-4 levels and anemia (all P<0.05). On survival analysis, a low FAR was associated with a longer PFS and OS compared with a high FAR (202 vs. 130 days and 376 vs. 270 days, respectively; both P<0.001), while the hazard ratio (HR) and P-values of the FAR were lower compared with those of fibrinogen and albumin alone on multivariate analysis (PFS: HR=0.638, 95% CI: 0.436–0.932, P=0.020; OS: HR=0.568, 95% CI: 0.394–0.819, P=0.002). Subgroup analysis indicated that among patients with poor prognosis, including multiple metastases, TNM stage IV and abnormal CA72-4 levels, the FAR may be used as an accurate prognostic marker (all P<0.05), and may also reliably identify patients with poor prognosis among those with normal fibrinogen and albumin levels (all P<0.001). The FAR was indicated to be a valuable marker for predicting PFS and OS in patients with advanced GC receiving first-line chemotherapy and is superior to either fibrinogen or albumin alone.

Elevated FPR confers to radiochemoresistance and predicts clinical efficacy and outcome of metastatic colorectal cancer patients

Association of chronic inflammation, primary tumor sidedness, adjuvant therapy and survival of metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) remains unclear. Circulating inflammatory cell, fibrinogen (Fib), albumin (Alb), pre-albumin (pAlb), Alb/Fib (AFR) and Fib/pAlb (FPR) were detected, and clinical outcome was obtained to determine the predictive, prognostic and monitoring roles of them in discovery and validation cohort. We found that elevated FPR, low AFR and poor survival was observed in right-sided mCRC comparing to the left-sided disease, elevated FPR harbored the highest areas under curve to independently predict poor progression-free survival and overall survival in overall and left-sided mCRC case in two cohorts. No survival difference was examined between the two-sided patients in subgroups stratified by FPR. Radiochemoresistance was observed in high FPR case. However, the patient could benefit from bevacizumab plus radiochemotherapy. Low FPR patient showed the best survival with treatment of palliative resection plus radiochemotherapy. Moreover, circulating FPR was significantly increased ahead imaging confirmed progression and it reached up to the highest value within three months before death. Additionally, c-indexes of the prognostic nomograms including FPR were significantly higher than those without it. These findings indicated that FPR was an effective and independent factor to predict progression, prognosis and to precisely identify the patient to receive optimal therapeutic regimen.

Diagnostic Value of Albumin to Fibrinogen Ratio in Cervical Cancer

BACKGROUND

Albumin to fibrinogen ratio (AFR) play a crucial role in the progression and prognosis of many malignant tumors. This study aimed to comprehensively assess the diagnostic value of AFR as single markers or in combination with squamous cell carcinoma antigen (SCC-Ag), cancer antigen 125 (CA-125) in cervical cancer.

METHODS

A total of 323 cervical cancer inpatients, 143 patients with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) and 317 healthy controls were analyzed. Differences in laboratory parameters and clinicopathological features were calculated using the Mann-Whitney U or Kruskal-Wallis H test. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to evaluate the predicted value of AFR, alone or combined with SCC-Ag, CA-125 for the diagnosis of cervical cancer.

RESULTS

The levels of AFR in patients with cervical cancer were significantly lower than those in the CIN patients and the control subjects. AFR were not only negatively correlated with the tumor stage, but also related to histology typing, lymph node metastasis, distant metastasis, depth of stromal infiltration, tumor size, and tumor stage; however, it was not associated with the blood group. AFR combined with SCC-Ag possessed a larger area under the curve (AUC; AUC_AFR+SCC-Ag = 0.924, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.900, 0.944) than AFR (P < 0.001), SCC-Ag (P < 0.001), or CA-125 (P < 0.001) did alone.

CONCLUSIONS

The pretreatment levels of AFR, alone or combined with SCC-Ag, CA-125 could improve the diagnostic efficiency of cervical cancer.

Diagnostic value of fibrinogen to prealbumin ratio and gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase to platelet ratio in the progression of AFP-negative hepatocellular carcinoma

Background

This study aimed to comprehensively assess the diagnostic value of fibrinogen to prealbumin ratio (FPR) and gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase to platelet ratio (GPR) as single markers or in combination in patients with alpha-fetoprotein-negative (AFP-negative) hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Methods

A total of 199 healthy controls and 515 AFP-negative patients were enrolled in this study, including 180 HCC inpatients, 151 liver cirrhosis (LC) patients, and 184 chronic hepatitis (CH) cases. Mann-Whitney U or Kruskal-Wallis H test were used to analyze differences between groups in laboratory parameters and clinicopathological features. The diagnostic value of FPR and GPR, alone or in combination, in AFP-negative HCC (AFP-NHCC) patients was determined via a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve.

Results

The levels of FPR and GPR were gradually increased in the development of AFP-NHCC and positively correlated with the tumor size and Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) stages. Moreover, GPR was associated with Edmondson-Steiner grades. After univariate logistic regression analysis, FPR and GPR remained independent predictors of adverse outcomes. The combination of FPR and GPR had a good ability to detect AFP-NHCC from the control group (area under curve [AUC] = 0.977), AFP-negative CH (AUC = 0.745), and AFP-negative LC (AUC = 0.666). FPR combined with GPR possessed a larger area (0.943, 0.971) and sensitivity (87.50%, 89.81%) than FPR or GPR alone for differentiating AFP-NHCC with tumor size < 3 cm or at the BCLC-A stage.

Conclusions

The pretreatment levels of FPR and GPR played vital roles in the development of AFP-NHCC, especially in patients with early or small AFP-NHCC.

Albumin-fibrinogen ratio and fibrinogen-prealbumin ratio as promising prognostic markers for cancers: an updated meta-analysis

Objective

Provide an updated and comprehensive evaluation of the prognostic value of the albumin-fibrinogen ratio (AFR) and the fibrinogen-prealbumin ratio (FPR) for patients with cancer.

Materials and methods

Four databases (PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, and WanFang) were searched. The primary endpoints were overall survival (OS), disease-free survival (DFS), and progression-free survival (PFS). Pooled data were synthesized using StataMP 14 and expressed as hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs).

Results

This update examined 19 studies (7282 cases) that assessed the correlation of AFR with cancer prognosis. Pooled univariate and multivariate analyses indicated significant correlations of low AFR with poor OS (HR 2.18, 95%CI 1.87–2.55 and HR 1.75, 95%CI 1.54–2.00, respectively), poor DFS (HR 1.89, 95%CI 1.54–2.32 and HR 1.51, 95%CI 1.29–1.76, respectively), and poor PFS (HR 1.68, 95%CI 1.42–1.99 and HR 1.48, 95%CI 1.16–1.88, respectively). Pooled univariate and multivariate analyses of 6 studies (2232 cases) indicated high FPR significantly correlated with poor OS (HR 2.37, 95%CI 2.03–2.77 and HR 1.97, 95%CI 1.41–2.77, respectively). One study reported that high FPR correlated with poor DFS (univariate analysis: HR 2.20, 95%CI 1.35–3.57; multivariate analysis: HR 1.77, 95%CI 1.04–2.99) and one study reported a correlation of high FPR with poor PFS in univariate analysis alone (HR 1.79, 95%CI 1.11–2.88).

Conclusion

A low AFR and a high FPR correlated with increased risk of cancer mortality and recurrence. AFR and FPR may be promising prognostic markers for cancers.

Preoperative Plasma Fibrinogen and Serum Albumin Score Is an Independent Prognostic Factor for Resectable Stage II-III Gastric Cancer

Background

Radical gastrectomy with D2 lymphadenectomy is recognized as the standard treatment for resectable advanced gastric cancer. Preoperative fibrinogen and albumin measurements may bring clinical benefits in terms of providing advanced notice of a poor prognosis or recurrence in patients undergoing radical resection. The aim of this study was to identify markers that are predictive of a poor prognosis prior to surgery.

Methods

Eight hundred forty-two consecutive patients who underwent curative radical gastrectomy at our hospital between 2008 and 2012 were retrospectively reviewed. Based on plasma fibrinogen and serum albumin levels, preoperative fibrinogen and albumin scores (Fib-Alb scores) were investigated, and the prognostic significance was determined.

Results

The patients were classified according to a Fib-Alb score of 0 (n = 376), 1 (n = 327), or 2 (n = 139). When the correlation between the response rate and the change in the Fib-Alb score was investigated, the response rate was significantly lower in patients with an increased Fib-Alb score than in the other patients. In the survival analysis, patients in the Fib-Alb high-score group exhibited significantly worse recurrence-free survival (RFS) (P = 0.030) than patients in the other groups. A multivariate analysis using clinical stage and the change in the Fib-Alb score as covariates revealed that a change in the Fib-Alb score (Fib-Alb score 1, HR: 1.31, 95% CI: 1.03-1.66, P = 0.028; Fib-Alb score 2, HR: 1.61, 95% CI: 1.20-2.17, P = 0.001) was a significant independent predictive factor for RFS.

Conclusions

The prognosis of patients with high fibrinogen and low albumin levels is poor. The Fib-Alb score was shown to be an independent prognostic factor for postoperative recurrence in gastric cancer patients who underwent radical gastrectomy.

Cumulative Score Based on Preoperative Fibrinogen and Pre-albumin Could Predict Long-term Survival for Patients with Resectable Gastric Cancer

Background: To investigate the prognostic significance of the cumulative score based on preoperative fibrinogen and pre-albumin (FP score) in patients with gastric cancer after radical gastrectomy.

Methods: Baseline characteristics, preoperative fibrinogen and pre-albumin levels were retrospectively reviewed in patients who underwent radical gastrectomy. The optimal cut-off values for fibrinogen and pre-albumin were defined as 4.0 g/L and 230.0 mg/L, respectively. Patients with elevated fibrinogen (≥ 4.0 g/L) and decreased pre-albumin (< 230.0 mg/L) levels were allocated an FP score of 2, those with only one of these two abnormalities were assigned a score of 1, and those with neither of the two abnormalities were allocated a score of 0. The prognostic value was examined by univariate and multivariate regression analyses.

Results: The preoperative FP score was significantly correlated with age, tumor size, fibrinogen level, pre-albumin level and white blood cell count. No significant differences based on sex, tumor location, degree of differentiation, depth of invasion, lymph node status, tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) stage or adjuvant chemotherapy were identified between the groups. In addition, univariate survival analysis revealed that a high preoperative FP score was significantly associated with unfavorable disease-free survival (DFS) [hazard ratio (HR), 1.482; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.222-1.796; P < 0.001] and overall survival (OS) (HR, 1.623; 95% CI, 1.315-2.002; P < 0.001). Moreover, after adjusting for other factors, a high preoperative FP score remained an independent predictor for impaired DFS (HR, 1.434; 95% CI, 1.177-1.747; P < 0.001) and OS (HR, 1.413; 95% CI, 1.136-1.758; P = 0.002) in multivariate Cox regression analysis.

Conclusions: The preoperative FP score significantly predicts long-term survival for gastric cancer patients who have undergone radical gastrectomy.

Clinicopathological and prognostic value of preoperative plasma fibrinogen in gastric cancer patients: A meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Increasing evidence has revealed that plasma fibrinogen may serve as a prognostic indicator in multiple malignancies. However, there have been some conflicting findings on the prognostic value of plasma fibrinogen in gastric cancer (GC). We conducted a meta-analysis to explore the correlation between plasma fibrinogen and clinic outcome in GC.

METHODS

A comprehensive literature search was conducted using the Embase, the Web of Science, the Cochrane library, and PubMed databases. Combined hazard ratios (HRs) and odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used to investigate the impact of elevated plasma fibrinogen on the prognosis and clinicopathological features of patients with GC.

RESULTS

A total of 11 studies involving 8315 patients were selected for this meta-analysis. The pooled results suggested that elevated plasma fibrinogen in GC patients was related to worse overall survival (OS) (HR = 1.57, 95% CI: 1.36-1.81, P < .001) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) (HR = 2.54; 95% CI: 1.19-5.41, P = .016). Additionally, a high level of fibrinogen was closely correlated with advanced tumor stage (OR = 2.14, 95% CI: 1.83-2.50, P < .001), lymph node metastasis (OR = 1.81, 95% CI: 1.56-2.11, P < .001), distant metastasis (OR = 1.48, 95% CI: 1.12-1.94, P = .005), deeper tumor invasion (OR = 2.25, 95% CI: 1.47-3.45, P < .001) and high carcinoembryonic antigen (OR = 1.41, 95% CI: 1.18-1.68, P < .001). However, there was no significant association between plasma fibrinogen and the differentiation grade (OR = 1.00, 95% CI: 0.86-1.17, P = .967). The Egger regression test indicated evidence of publication bias for OS.

CONCLUSION

Elevated plasma fibrinogen could be a potential predictor for worse OS and RFS in GC patients and a significant risk factor associated with aggressive clinical features.

Prognostic significance of the ratio of fibrinogen and albumin in human malignancies: a meta-analysis

Background and aim: Serum fibrinogen and albumin are two important factors in systemic inflammation and these two factors are related to tumor progression. This study aimed to comprehensively reveal the prognostic value of the ratio of fibrinogen and albumin in malignant tumors.

Methods: We systematically searched relevant studies in PubMed, Web of Science and Embase up to November 21, 2018. Hazard ratios (HRs) or odds ratio (ORs) for overall survival (OS)/disease-free survival (DFS), as well as relevant clinical data, were collected for analysis; all data analyses were performed by using STATA/SE 14.

Results: Twelve cohort studies were included in this meta-analysis, with a total of 5,088 cases including 9 different kinds of tumors recruited. The pooled results showed that high albumin/fibrinogen ratio (FAR) and low fibrinogen/albumin ratio (AFR) were significantly associated with poor OS (HR=1.50, 95% CI: 1.30–1.70). Subgroup analyses for OS were also performed based on the disease type, detection method, follow-up time and treatment. Similarly, high FAR or low AFR indicated a worse DFS in cancer patients (HR=1.86; 95% CI: 1.41–2.31). In addition, high FAR or low AFR was statistically significant in relation to deeper tumor infiltration (OR=2.81, 95%CI: 1.67–4.72), positive lymph node metastasis (OR=1.57, 95%CI: 1.23–2.02) and distant metastasis (OR=2.30, 95% CI: 1.36–3.89) as well as advanced clinical stage (OR=2.02, 95% CI: 1.17–3.47).

Conclusions: The ratio of fibrinogen and albumin could act as a promising prognostic marker in human malignant tumors. It might assist physicians to select optimal treatments by identifying the current status of the patient. Future multicenter clinical trials are needed to validate its applications.

Circulating CEA-dNLR score predicts clinical outcome of metastatic gallbladder cancer patient

BACKGROUND

Cancer-related inflammation promotes gallbladder tumorigenesis and metastasis of gallbladder cancer (mGBC). The levels of circulating inflammatory-related cell and protein as well as the ratios of them may imply the severity of chronic inflammation in GBC patients, and all of them are candidate prognostic biomarkers for mGBC.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

In our study, pre-treatment circulating immune cell, fibrinogen (Fib), albumin (Alb), and pre-albumin (pAlb) were detected in 220 mGBC patients, and we calculated neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), derived neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (dNLR), lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio (LMR), platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), Alb-to-Fib ratio (AFR), and Fib-to-pAlb ratio (FPR) replying on the detection. Three years' follow-up was carried out in those patients, and we investigated the possible associations between those biomarkers and three years' overall survival (OS) of these patients using X-tile software, Kaplan-Meier curve, Cox regression, and time-dependent receiver operating characteristics (ROC).

RESULTS

Our results showed that OS of the patients with high pAlb and LMR was significantly superior to the cases with the low biomarkers, respectively. However, survival of the cases with high CEA, dNLR, and FPR was significantly inferior to the patients with low levels of those biomarkers. Area under the curve (AUC) of time-dependent ROC of CEA and dNLR was higher than pAlb, LMR, and FPR, respectively. Additionally, higher CEA-dNLR score (adjusted HR = 3.09, 95% CI = 1.01-4.51 for the score one; adjusted HR = 4.99, 95% CI = 2.32-7.21 for the score two) was significantly associated with reduced survival of the patients, and AUC of the score for predicting clinical outcome of mGBC patients was 0.756, and it was significantly higher than the single CEA and dNLR, respectively.

CONCLUSION

Our findings implied that pretreatment CEA-dNLR score was superior to the other biomarkers to predict OS of mGBC patients, and it was an independent prognostic factor for the disease.

TNM-PNI: a novel prognostic scoring system for patients with gastric cancer and curative D2 resection

Purpose

Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the most common malignancies and has a high mortality rate. In recent years, several nutritional or inflammatory biomarkers have been shown to effectively predict the prognosis of tumors. In this study, we intended to establish a prognostic scoring system for GC patients.

Patients and methods

Our study included a total of 501 GC patients who were diagnosed with GC stage I–III and received curative gastrectomy with D2 lymphadenectomy between January 2011 and December 2012. Survival analysis was performed using Kaplan–Meier and log-rank tests. Two Cox multivariate models, one for continuous and one for categorical variables, were established to identify independent prognostic factors. All statistical analyses were performed using SPSS 20.0.

Results

Univariate and multivariate analyses revealed that tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) stage, preoperative prognostic nutritional index (PNI), and adjuvant therapy were independent prognostic factors for GC patients. We established a new composite variable, TNM-PNI, which was confirmed to be a major prognostic factor for curative D2 resection, independent of whether adjuvant therapy was administered. GC patients with higher TNM-PNI scores always had worse cancer outcomes. In addition, we found that adjuvant therapy might be beneficial for the survival of GC patients with TNM-PNI =4 or 5.

Conclusion

Preoperative PNI plays a distinctly subsidiary role to the TNM stage when predicting patient prognosis. TNM-PNI is a novel and an effective prognostic index for GC patients with curative D2 resection and a good supplement for the National Comprehensive Cancer Network Guidelines.

Preoperative fibrinogen to prealbumin ratio as a novel predictor for clinical outcome of hepatocellular carcinoma

AIM

To investigate prognostic value of preoperative inflammatory biomarkers in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

PATIENTS & METHODS

Preoperative circulating fibrinogen, prealbumin, fibrinogen to prealbumin ratio (FPR), neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio, derived neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio, lymphocyte to monocyte ratio, platelet to lymphocyte ratio were detected and calculated in 230 HCC patients. X-tile software, Kaplan-Meier curve, Cox regression, time-dependent receiver-operating characteristic were used to explored prognostic roles of them in HCC.

RESULTS

Multivariate Cox regression showed that high FPR was significantly associated with decreased recurrence-free survival (p = 0.034) and overall survival (p < 0.001) within HCC patients. FPR generated the largest area under curve of time-dependent receiver-operating characteristic comparing to the other biomarkers. Overall survival of HCC patients receiving chemotherapy was superior to the cases without receiving chemotherapy only in high FPR subgroup (p = 0.028).

CONCLUSION

Preoperative FPR was superior to other biomarkers to independently predict survival of HCC patients, and it could identify the patients who could benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy.

Albumin-to-fibrinogen ratio as a promising biomarker to predict clinical outcome of non-small cell lung cancer individuals

Chronic inflammation is one of the critical causes to promote the initiation and metastasis of solid malignancies including lung cancer (LC). Here, we aimed to investigate the prognostic roles of albumin (Alb)-to-fibrinogen (Fib) ratio (AFR), Fib and Alb in LC and to establish a novel effective nomogram combined with AFR. Four hundred twelve LC patients diagnosed between February 2005 and December 2014 were recruited in this prospective study. The prognostic roles of AFR, Fib, Alb, neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) and monocyte-to-lymphocyte ratio (MLR) were identified by X-tile software, Kaplan-Meier curve, Cox regression model, and time-dependent ROC. Pretreatment high circulating Fib, low AFR, and Alb were significantly associated with increased risk of death for LC patients, especially for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients in all stages. The area under curves (AUCs) of AFR, Fib, and NLR were higher than them within Alb and PLR for predicting the survival of NSCLC patients. Moreover, we found that clinical outcome of high AFR patient with chemo-radiotherapy was superior to low AFR patient; overall survival rate of stage II-III NSCLC patients undergoing chemo-radiotherapy was significantly lower than the surgical patients with treatment of adjuvant chemo-radiotherapy(P = 0.001) in low AFR subgroup. On the contrary, clinical outcome of the patients receiving chemo-radiotherapy was the same to the patients undergoing surgery and adjuvant chemo-radiotherapy (P = 0.405) in high AFR subgroup. In addition, c-index of predicted nomogram including AFR (0.717) for NSCLC patients with treatment of chemo-radiotherapy was higher than that without AFR (0.707). Our findings demonstrated that circulating pretreatment AFR might be a potential biomarker to predict clinical efficacy of surgical resection and adjuvant chemo-radiotherapy and be a prognostic biomarker for NSCLC individuals.