Plasma uric acid and tumor volume are highly predictive of outcome in nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients receiving intensity modulated radiotherapy

Treatment-Interval Changes in Serum Levels of Albumin and Histidine Correlated with Treatment Interruption in Patients with Locally Advanced Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma Completing Chemoradiotherapy under Recommended Calorie and Protein Provision

We investigated risk factors for treatment interruption (TI) in patients with locally advanced head and neck squamous-cell carcinoma (LAHNSCC) following concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT), under the provision of recommended calorie and protein intake; we also evaluated the associations between clinicopathological variables, calorie and protein supply, nutrition–inflammation biomarkers (NIBs), total body composition change (TBC), and a four-serum-amino-acid metabolite panel (histidine, leucine, ornithine, and phenylalanine) among these patients. Patients with LAHNSCC who completed the entire planned CCRT course and received at least 25 kcal/kg/day and 1 g of protein/kg/day during CCRT were prospectively recruited. Clinicopathological variables, anthropometric data, blood NIBs, CCRT-related factors, TBC data, and metabolite panels before and after treatment were collected; 44 patients with LAHNSCC were enrolled. Nine patients (20.4%) experienced TIs. Patients with TIs experienced greater reductions in hemoglobin, serum levels of albumin, uric acid, histidine, and appendicular skeletal mass, and suffered from more grade 3/4 toxicities than those with no TI. Neither increased daily calorie supply (≥30 kcal/kg/day) nor feeding tube placement was correlated with TI. Multivariate analysis showed that treatment-interval changes in serum albumin and histidine levels, but not treatment toxicity, were independently associated with TI. Thus, changes in serum levels of albumin and histidine over the treatment course could cause TI in patients with LAHNSCC following CCRT.

Prognostic value of serum uric acid and tumor response to induction chemotherapy in locally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma

BACKGROUND

To explore the combined predictive value of serum uric acid (SUA) and tumor response to induction chemotherapy (IC) in locally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma (LANPC) patients receiving IC followed by concurrent chemoradiation therapy (CCRT).

METHODS

A total of 341 LANPC patients treated with IC + CCRT were enrolled in this retrospective study. Overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), locoregional relapse-free survival (LRFS), and distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS) were compared by the Kaplan-Meier analysis and the log-rank test, and multivariable survival analysis was carried out to investigate the independent prognostic factors.

RESULTS

Univariate analysis showed that a low SUA level and unsatisfactory tumor response to two cycles of IC both were negative predictors for OS, PFS, and DMFS in patients with LANPC. multivariable analysis demonstrated that the SUA level after two cycles of IC was an independent prognostic factor for OS (P = 0.012) but of borderline significance for PFS and DMFS (P = 0.055 and P = 0.067, respectively). Furthermore, tumor response to IC was of independent significance for predicting OS, PFS, and DMFS, respectively. Finally, LANPC patients with satisfactory tumor response and a high SUA level after two cycles of IC had a better OS, PFS, and DMFS than those with unsatisfactory tumor response and a low SUA level.

CONCLUSION

The SUA level and the tumor response to two cycles of IC had predictive value for LANPC patients treated with IC plus CCRT. However, more aggressive therapeutic strategies are recommended for those with a low SUA level and unsatisfactory tumor response to two cycles of IC.

Friend or Foe? An Unrecognized Role of Uric Acid in Cancer Development and the Potential Anticancer Effects of Uric Acid-lowering Drugs

In recent years, metabolic syndrome (Mets) has been a hot topic among medical scientists. Mets has an intimate relationship with the incidence and development of various cancers. As a contributory factor of Mets, hyperuricemia actually plays an inseparable role in the formation of various metabolic disorders. Although uric acid is classically considered an antioxidant with beneficial effects, mounting evidence indicates that a high serum uric acid (SUA) level may serve as a pro-oxidant to generate inflammatory reactions and oxidative stress. In this review, we describe the unrecognized role of hyperuricemia in cancer development and summarize major mechanisms linking uric acid to carcinogenesis. Furthermore, we also discuss the potential mechanism of liver metastasis of cancer and list some types of uric acid-lowering agents, which may exert anticancer effects.

Prognostic Significance of Serum Uric Acid and Gamma-Glutamyltransferase in Patients with Advanced Gastric Cancer

PURPOSE

In this study, we aim to evaluate the prognostic role of serum uric acid and gamma-glutamyltransferase in advanced gastric cancer patients.

METHODS

A total of 180 patients pathologically diagnosed with advanced gastric cancer were included in this retrospective study. We used time-dependent receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves to identify the optimal cut-off value of serum uric acid (UA) and gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT). Survival analysis was performed using the Kaplan-Meier method and log-rank test, and multivariate Cox regression analyses were applied. A nomogram was formulated, and the calibration and discrimination of the nomogram were determined by calibration curve and concordance index (C-index). We validated the results using bootstrap resampling and a separate study on 60 patients collected from 2015 to 2017 using the same criteria in other medical center.

RESULTS

Both higher serum uric acid (>228 μmol/L) and higher gamma-glutamyltransferase (>14 U/L) had worse OS and PFS. Univariate analysis indicated that serum uric acid (UA) (p < 0.001 and p < 0.001) and gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT) (p < 0.001 and p = 0.044) were significantly related to overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS), respectively. Multivariate analysis revealed serum uric acid (UA) and gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT) were independent prognostic factors for OS (p = 0.012, p = 0.001). The optimal agreement between actual observation and nomogram prediction was shown by calibration curves. The C-indexes of the nomogram for predicting OS and PFS were 0.748 (95% CI: 0.70-0.79) and 0.728 (95% CI: 0.6741-0.7819), respectively. The results were confirmed in the validation cohort.

CONCLUSION

We observed that both serum UA and GGT were poor prognostic factors in patients with advanced gastric cancer. And we also formulated and validated a nomogram which can predict individual survival for advanced gastric cancer patients.

Minimally invasive surgery alone compared with intensity-modulated radiotherapy for primary stage I nasopharyngeal carcinoma

Background

The National Comprehensive Cancer Network guidelines recommend intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) as the primary curative treatment for newly diagnosed nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), but the radiation-related complications and relatively high medical costs remain a consequential burden for the patients. Endoscopic nasopharyngectomy (ENPG) was successfully applied in recurrent NPC with radiation free and relatively low medical costs. In this study, we examined whether ENPG could be an effective treatment for localized stage I NPC.

Methods

Ten newly diagnosed localized stage I NPC patients voluntarily received ENPG alone from June 2007 to September 2017 in Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center. Simultaneously, the data of 329 stage I NPC patients treated with IMRT were collected and used as a reference cohort. The survival outcomes, quality of life (QOL), and medical costs between two groups were compared.

Results

After a median follow-up of 59.0 months (95% CI 53.4–64.6), no death, locoregional recurrence, or distant metastasis was observed in the 10 patients treated with ENPG. The 5-year overall survival, local relapse-free survival, regional relapse-free survival, and distant metastasis-free survival among the ENPG-treated patients was similar to that among the IMRT-treated patients (100% vs. 99.1%, 100% vs. 97.7%, 100% vs. 99.0%, 100% vs. 97.4%, respectively, P > 0.05). In addition, compared with IMRT, ENPG was associated with decreased total medical costs ($ 4090.42 ± 1502.65 vs. $ 12620.88 ± 4242.65, P < 0.001) and improved QOL scores including dry mouth (3.3 ± 10.5 vs. 34.4 ± 25.8, P < 0.001) and sticky saliva (3.3 ± 10.5 vs. 32.6 ± 23.3, P < 0.001).

Conclusions

ENPG alone was associated with promising long-term survival outcomes, low medical costs, and satisfactory QOL and might therefore be an alternative strategy for treating newly diagnosed localized stage I NPC patients who refused radiotherapy. However, the application of ENPG should be prudent, and prospective clinical trials were needed to further verify the results.

Prognostic value of tumor burden in nasopharyngeal carcinoma

BACKGROUND

The prognostic value of primary tumor volume (TV) in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) has been confirmed. However, studies of the prognosis value of tumor burden, including TV and nodal volume (NV), have been relatively infrequent. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the prognostic value of tumor burden in NPC patients treated with intensity-modulated radiotherapy.

METHODS

Receiver operating characteristics curves were generated to determine rational cutoff points for TV and NV. The volumes identified included 12.5, 25.0, and 50.0 mL, and 0, 12.5, and 25 mL, respectively. According to these cutoff volumes, four subgroups were established for TV as TV1-TV4, and four subgroups were established for NV as NV0-NV3. Then, the entire cohort (992 NPC patients) was divided into 16 subgroups according to these four levels of TV and NV. Based on similarities in the 5-year overall survival (OS) rates for these 16 subgroups, four patient groups were established, G1-G4.

RESULTS

The mean TV and NV values for our cohort were 39.5±30.8 mL and 16.5±17.6 mL, respectively. The 5-year distant failure-free rate, the 5-year disease-free survival rate, and the 5-year OS rate for G3 and G4 were significantly lower than those for G1 and G2. In particular, the OS curves of the four patient groups were significantly separated. A multivariate analysis identified TV >50 mL, T-stage (3-4), and N-stage (2-3) as adverse prognostic factors for OS.

CONCLUSIONS

The results of this study demonstrate that tumor burden has a significant prognostic value for NPC patients treated with intensity-modulated radiotherapy. Hence, tumor burden, including TV and NV, should be incorporated into the current staging system for NPC to improve prognostic significance.

Albumin, bilirubin, uric acid and cancer risk: results from a prospective population-based study

BACKGROUND

It has long been proposed that albumin, bilirubin and uric acid may inhibit cancer development due to their anti-oxidative properties. However, there is a lack of population-based studies on blood levels of these molecules and cancer risk.

METHODS

Associations between pre-diagnostic serum albumin, bilirubin and uric acid and the risks of common cancers as well as cancer death in the EPIC-Heidelberg cohort were evaluated by multivariable Cox regression analyses. A case-cohort sample including a random subcohort (n=2739) and all incident cases of breast (n=627), prostate (n=554), colorectal (n=256), and lung cancer (n=195) as well as cancer death (n=761) that occurred between baseline (1994-1998) and 2009 was used.

RESULTS

Albumin levels were inversely associated with breast cancer risk (hazard ratioQuartile 4 vs Quartile 1 (95% CI): 0.71 (0.51, 0.99), Plinear trend=0.004) and overall cancer mortality (HRQ4 vs Q1 (95% CI): 0.64 (0.48, 0.86), Plinear trend<0.001) after multivariable adjustment. Uric acid levels were also inversely associated with breast cancer risk (HRQ4 vs Q1 (95% CI): 0.72 (0.53, 0.99), Plinear trend=0.043) and cancer mortality (HRQ4 vs Q1 (95% CI): 0.75 (0.58, 0.98), Plinear trend=0.09). There were no significant associations between albumin or uric acid and prostate, lung and colorectal cancer. Serum bilirubin was not associated with any cancer end point.

CONCLUSIONS

The present findings indicate that higher levels of albumin and uric acid are related to lower risks of breast cancer and cancer mortality. Further studies are needed to assess whether the observed associations are causal.

High serum uric acid concentration predicts poor survival in patients with breast cancer

BACKGROUND

Uric acid is a product of purine metabolism. Recently, uric acid has gained much attraction in cancer. In this study, we aim to investigate the clinicopathological and prognostic significance of serum uric acid concentration in breast cancer patients.

METHODS

A total of 443 female patients with histopathologically diagnosed breast cancer were included. After a mean follow-up time of 56months, survival was analysed using the Kaplan-Meier method. To further evaluate the prognostic significance of uric acid concentrations, univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses were applied.

RESULTS

Of the clinicopathological parameters, uric acid concentration was associated with age, body mass index, ER status and PR status. Univariate analysis identified that patients with increased uric acid concentration had a significantly inferior overall survival (HR 2.13, 95% CI 1.15-3.94, p=0.016). In multivariate analysis, we found that high uric acid concentration is an independent prognostic factor predicting death, but insufficient to predict local relapse or distant metastasis. Kaplan-Meier analysis indicated that high uric acid concentration is related to the poor overall survival (p=0.013).

CONCLUSIONS

High uric acid concentration predicts poor survival in patients with breast cancer, and might serve as a potential marker for appropriate management of breast cancer patients.

Prognostic value of pre-operative serum uric acid levels in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma patients who undergo R0 esophagectomy

BACKGROUND

The serum uric acid (SUA) is the end-product from the metabolic breakdown of purine nucleotides. It has been considered to be a prognostic factor for malignant tumor in several researches. However, its prognostic value in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) has not been elucidated.

METHODS

We retrospectively reviewed the records of 209 ESCC patients who underwent R0 esophagectomy. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was used to determine the optimal cut-off value for pre-operative SUA levels and to divide the ESCC patients into two groups. Furthermore, we analyzed the pre-operative serum uric acid (SUA) levels and its relationship with the clinicopathological parameters and the prognosis of 209 ESCC patients.

RESULTS

Optimal cut-off value for pre-operative SUA in ROC analysis was 304.5 μ mol/l (sensitivity 67.46%, specificity 65.06%). SUA low- or high-levels were associated with gender (P< 0.001), smoking status (P< 0.001), pN statues (P= 0.003) and TNM stage (P= 0.010). SUA levels, tumor differentiation and pTNM stage were independent predictors of ESCC patient survival in a multivariate analysis.

CONCLUSIONS

The pre-operative level of SUA is an independent prognostic predictor in ESCC patients who undergo R0 esophagectomy and patients with higher SUA level may have an unfavorable survival probability.

Use of pretreatment serum uric acid level to predict metastasis in locally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma

BACKGROUND

The purpose of this study was to determine the predictive value of pretreatment serum uric acid (SUA) for metastasis in locally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) treated with intensity-modulated radiotherapy.

METHODS

This retrospective study examined 1063 patients with locally advanced NPC. Multivariate survival analysis was used.

RESULTS

High pretreatment SUA level (>353.4 μmol/L) independently predicted distant metastasis-free survival (p = .013) and was associated with high white blood cell (p = .005), lymphocyte counts (p < .001), and male sex (p < 0.001). In addition, SUA levels were significantly elevated in patients with T1 to T3 classification (p = .042). For patients with subsequent lung metastases after treatment, markedly higher pretreatment SUA levels were detected compared with patients who had other distant metastases (p =.012) and patients without distant metastasis (p = .024).

CONCLUSION

Pretreatment SUA may be a useful biomarker for evaluating treatment options for patients with locally advanced NPC. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck 39: 492-497, 2017.

Relationship between serum uric acid and metastatic and nonmetastatic rectal cancer patients with undergoing no chemotherapy

The aim of this study was to investigate the role of uric acid (UA) in assessing rectal cancer metastasis.There were 475 newly diagnosed patients with complete data in our study, a total of 475 cases were reviewed, and divided into patients with metastasis and without metastasis.There were several statistical differences in age, tumor diameter, carcino-embryonic antigen (CEA), and C-reactive protein (CRP) between the 2 groups. Importantly, serum concentrations of UA in patients with lymphatic metastasis were found to be increased compared with patients without lymphatic metastasis (270.9 ± 52.99 vs 215.8 ± 43.55; P < 0.001). There were positive correlations of serum UA with creatinine (Cr), CRP, and CEA (r = 0.281, P = 0.023; r = 0.312, P = 0.001; r = 0.294, P = 0.017) in rectal cancer patients with metastasis. Multivariate analysis model revealed that elevated serum levels of UA were significant prognostic marker for lymphatic metastasis in patients with rectal cancer, independently of CRP, CEA, and tumor diameter (odds ratio 1.035, 95% CI 1.013-1.057, P = 0.002). In receiver-operating characteristic curve analysis, the area under the curve of serum UA in assessing metastatic rectal cancer patients was 0.803, with sensitivity of 0.864 and specificity of 0.739.Our results suggest that serum UA may be a novel marker in assessing tumor metastasis in patients with rectal cancer.

Evaluation of uric acid as a prognostic blood-based marker in a large cohort of pancreatic cancer patients

BACKGROUND

Recently, chemical blood parameters gain more attraction as potential prognostic parameters in pancreatic cancer (PC). In the present study we investigated the prognostic relevance of the uric acid (UA) level in blood plasma at the time of diagnosis for overall survival (OS) in a large cohort of patients with PC.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Data from 466 consecutive patients with ductal adenocarcinoma of the pancreas were evaluated retrospectively. Overall survival (OS) was analysed using the Kaplan-Meier method. To further evaluate the prognostic significance of the UA level, univariate and multivariate Cox regression models were calculated.

RESULTS

None of the clinicopathological parameters (tumour grade, clinical stage, age, CA19-9 level, Karnofski Index (KI) or surgical resection) except gender was associated with UA level. In univariate analysis we observed the elevated UA level (<5.1 versus ≥5.1 mg/dl, p = 0.017) as poor prognostic factor for OS. In the multivariate analysis that included age, gender, tumour grade, tumour stage, surgical resection, CA19-9 level, the KI and UA level we confirmed the UA level as independent prognostic factor for OS (HR = 1.373%; CI = 1.077-1.751; p = 0.011).

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, we identified the UA level at time of diagnosis as an independent prognostic factor in PC patients. Our results indicate that the UA level might represent a novel and useful marker for patient stratification in PC management.