Prognostic value of combined preoperative fibrinogen and neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma after liver transplantation

Preoperative fibrinogen level and blood transfusions in liver transplantation: A systematic review

BACKGROUND

Orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) is a major surgery often associated with significant bleeding. We conducted a systematic review to explore the association between preoperative fibrinogen level and intraoperative blood products transfusion, blood loss and clinical outcomes in patients undergoing OLT.

METHODS

We included observational studies conducted in patients undergoing an OLT mostly for end-stage liver disease that reported an association between the preoperative fibrinogen level and our outcomes of interest. Our primary outcome was the intraoperative red blood cell (RBC) transfusion requirements. Our secondary outcomes were intraoperative blood loss, intraoperative transfusion of any blood product, postoperative RBC transfusion, postoperative thrombotic or hemorrhagic complications, and mortality. We used a standardized search strategy. We reported our results mostly descriptively but conducted meta-analyses using random-effect models when judged feasible.

RESULTS

We selected 24 cohort studies reporting at least one of our outcomes. We found that a high preoperative fibrinogen level was associated with fewer intraoperative RBC and other blood products transfusions, and lower blood loss. We also found a lower overall survival in patients with a higher fibrinogen level (pooled hazard ratio [95% CI] of 1.50 [1.23 to 1.84]; 5 studies, n = 1012, I2 = 48%). Only one study formally explored a fibrinogen level threshold effect. Overall, reporting was heterogeneous, and risk of bias was variable mostly because of uncontrolled confounding.

CONCLUSION

A higher preoperative fibrinogen level was associated with fewer intraoperative RBC and other blood products transfusions, lower blood loss, and higher mortality. Further studies may help clarify observed associations and inform guidelines.

Prognostic Impact of Using Combined Plasma Fibrinogen Level and Neutrophil-to-Lymphocyte Ratio in Resectable Non-small Cell Lung Cancer

BACKGROUND

Both plasma fibrinogen level and neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) are associated with malignant potential in different cancer types. The current study evaluated the use of combined plasma fibrinogen level and NLR (F-NLR) as a prognostic predictor in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

METHODS

Data collected from 279 patients with resectable NSCLC were retrospectively reviewed. Patients were divided into three groups based on the F-NLR score: score 2, high fibrinogen level (≥350 mg/dL) and high NLR (≥2.5); score 1, either high fibrinogen level or high NLR; and score 0, neither abnormal. Overall survival (OS) and relapse-free survival (RFS) were evaluated using the Kaplan-Meier method and log-rank test. Cox proportional hazard model was used to assess prognostic factors.

RESULTS

Numbers of patients with F-NLR score of 0, 1, and 2 were 122 (43.7%), 105 (37.6%), and 52 (18.6%), respectively. The F-NLR was found to be significantly associated with age, male sex, heavy smoking history, high pT status and pathological stage, and nonadenocarcinoma. Moreover, the OS and RFS significantly differed according to the F-NLR score (P < 0.001, P = 0.003). A multivariate analysis revealed that a high F-NLR score (≥1) was an independent poor prognostic factor for OS (P = 0.027). In subgroup analyses, an adverse prognostic impact of the F-NLR score on OS was identified regardless of nodal involvement or pathological stage.

CONCLUSIONS

The F-NLR score, which is based on histological inflammation and coagulability, could be a potential prognostic indicator in patients with resectable NSCLC.

Usefulness of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) as a prognostic predictor after treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma." Review article

The neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is an inflammatory marker which has been investigated as a prognostic indicator in post-therapeutic recurrence and survival of patients with HCC. Our aim was to review all studies that assessed the prognostic value of pre-treatment NLR in predicting patient survival, cancer recurrence, and graft survival in patients undergoing various therapies for HCC. We searched the database of PubMed and Google Scholar to review all studies that have the word "NLR" and the word "HCC." We included all studies that assessed pre-treatment NLR as a prognostic factor in predicting outcomes in HCC patients. We excluded studies that assessed the correlation between post-treatment NLR or dynamic changes in NLR after treatment and HCC outcomes in an effort to minimize the confounding effect of each treatment on NLR. We reviewed 123 studies that studied the correlation between pre-treatment NLR and patient survival, 72 studies that evaluated the correlation between pre-treatment NLR and tumor recurrence, 21 studies that evaluated the correlation between NLR and tumor behavior, and 4 studies that assessed the correlation between NLR and graft survival. We found a remarkable heterogeneity between the methods of the studies, which is likely responsible for the differences in outcomes. The majority of the studies suggested a correlation between higher levels of pre-treatment NLR and poor outcomes. We concluded that NLR is a reliable and inexpensive biomarker and should be incorporated into other prognostic models to help determine outcomes following HCC treatment.

Association of Plasma Fibrinogen Levels on Postoperative Day 1 with 2-Year Survival of Orthotopic Liver Transplantation for HBV-Related HCC

OBJECTIVE

To clarify the prognostic values of hemostatic parameters to predict the survival of patients undergoing orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) for hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

METHODS

The data of 182 consecutive adult patients who underwent OLT for HBV-related HCC were subjected to univariate and multivariate analyses.

RESULTS

Ascites and fibrinogen levels on postoperative day (POD) 1 were independent predictors of postoperative 2-year mortality (both P <.05). Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed that the higher the fibrinogen level on POD 1, the better the 1- and 2-year survival of patients with ascites (P <.05), whereas the fibrinogen level on POD 1 was associated with 1-year (P <.05) but not 2-year survival of patients without ascites.

CONCLUSION

Fibrinogen on POD 1 is a predictor of 2-year post-OLT survival of patients with HBV-related HCC with ascites.

Prognostic value of combined pretreatment fibrinogen and neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio in digestive system cancers: a meta-analysis of 17 retrospective studies

BACKGROUND

Several epidemiological studies have reported the relationship between the combined pretreatment fibrinogen and neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (F-NLR) and prognosis of digestive system cancers (DSCs). However, the results are controversial. We aimed to assess the prognostic value of F-NLR in patients with DSCs.

METHODS

A comprehensive search for relevant studies was conducted until June, 2020. Studies that evaluated the association of the F-NLR score with survival outcome in patients with any DSCs were included. The hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated using a fixed-effects model. All data analyses were performed using the STATA 12.0 software.

RESULTS

A total of 17 studies involving 5,767 participants were included in the meta-analysis. We found that high F-NLR score was significantly associated with poor overall survival (OS) in patients with DSCs (HR =2.0; 95% CI, 1.78-2.24). In addition, patients with high F-NLR score had poor disease-free survival/progression-free survival/recurrence-free survival (DFS/PFS/RFS) (HR =2.01; 95% CI, 1.47-2.74) and DFS (HR =1.97; 95% CI, 1.35-2.87). Sensitivity analyses for OS confirmed that the results were stable.

CONCLUSIONS

High F-NLR score is significantly associated with poor prognostic outcomes in patients with DSCs and can serve as an effective prognostic indicator for the Asian population.

The Prognostic Significance of Combined Pretreatment Fibrinogen and Neutrophil-Lymphocyte Ratio in Various Cancers: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Purpose

The prognostic value of a new scoring system, termed F-NLR, that combines pretreatment fibrinogen level with neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio has been evaluated in various cancers. However, the results are controversial. The purpose of this study was to comprehensively analyze the prognostic value of F-NLR score in patients with cancers.

Methods

An integrated search of relevant studies was conducted by screening the PubMed and Embase databases. Pooled hazard ratios, with 95% confidence intervals (CIs), for overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS)/progression-free survival (PFS) were calculated to estimate the prognostic significance of F-NLR score in patients with various tumors. A random effects model was used for comprehensive analysis, and subgroup and meta-regression analyses were used to explore sources of heterogeneity.

Results

Thirteen articles reporting data from of 4747 patients were included in the study. Pooled analysis revealed that high F-NLR score was significantly associated with poor OS (HR = 1.77; 95% CI, 1.51–2.08) and poor DFS/PFS (HR = 1.63; 95% CI, 1.30–2.05). Subgroup and meta-regression analyses did not alter the prognostic role of F-NLR score in OS and DFS/PFS.

Conclusions

Increased F-NLR score is significantly associated with poor prognosis in patients with cancers and can serve as an effective prognostic indicator.

Neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio and albumin bilirubin grade in hepatocellular carcinoma: A systematic review

BACKGROUND

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a frequent cause of cancer related death globally. Neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and albumin bilirubin (ALBI) grade are emerging prognostic indicators in HCC.

AIM

To study published literature of NLR and ALBI over the last five years, and to validate NLR and ALBI locally in our centre as indicators of HCC survival.

METHODS

A systematic review of the published literature on PubMed of NLR and ALBI in HCC over the last five years. The search followed the guidelines of the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses. Additionally, we also investigated HCC cases between December 2013 and December 2018 in our centre.

RESULTS

There were 54 studies describing the relation between HCC and NLR and 95 studies describing the relation between HCC and ALBI grade over the last five years. Our local cohort of patients showed NLR to have a significant negative relationship to survival (P = 0.011). There was also significant inverse relationship between the size of the largest HCC nodule and survival (P = 0.009). Median survival with alpha fetoprotein (AFP) < 10 KU/L was 20 mo and with AFP > 10 KU/L was 5 mo. We found that AFP was inversely related to survival, this relationship was not statically significant (P = 0.132). Mean survival for ALBI grade 1 was 37.7 mo, ALBI grade 2 was 13.4 months and ALBI grade 3 was 4.5 mo. ALBI grades performed better than Child Turcotte Pugh score in detecting death from HCC.

CONCLUSION

NLR and ALBI grade in HCC predict survival better than the conventional alpha fetoprotein. ALBI grade performs better than Child Turcotte Pugh score. These markers are done as part of routine clinical care and in cases of normal alpha fetoprotein, these markers could give a better understanding of the patient disease progression. NLR and ALBI grade could have a role in modified easier to learn staging and prognostic systems for HCC.

Prognostic value of combined preoperative gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase to platelet ratio and fibrinogen in patients with HBV-related hepatocellular carcinoma after hepatectomy

The gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase to platelet ratio (GPR) has been reported as a non-invasive parameter for evaluating hepatic fibrosis and cirrhosis. However, only a few of studies investigated the relationship between GPR and liver cancer. Here, we sought to clarify the prognostic value of GPR as well as its combination with fibrinogen in patients with HBV-related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We performed a retrospective study using data collected from 302 HCC patients, and evaluated the association between GPR, fibrinogen and clinicopathological characteristics using the chi-square test. Additionally, we assessed disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) using the Kaplan-Meier method and log-rank test, then performed univariate and multivariate COX analyses to identify the prognostic factors. The prognostic performance of combined GPR and fibrinogen was evaluated by the receiver operating characteristic curve analysis. Results showed that GPR was associated with gender, history of smoking and drinking, cirrhosis, antiviral treatments, tumor number, and Child-Pugh grade. Univariate analysis revealed a significant correlation between tumor diameter, vascular invasion, BCLC stage, alpha-fetal protein, GPR, fibrinogen, and NLR with both DFS and OS in HCC patients. Only GPR and fibrinogen were found to be independently associated with both DFS and OS according to multivariate analysis. Furthermore, predictive capacity was enhanced by combining GPR with fibrinogen owing to a larger area under the curve than other indexes or models. Overall, preoperative GPR could be an effective non-invasive predictor for prognosis of HBV-related HCC patients, and a combination of GPR and fibrinogen improved the prognostic performance.

Preoperative elevated plasma fibrinogen level predicts tumor recurrence and poor prognosis in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma

BACKGROUND

Elevated plasma fibrinogen has been reported to be associated with poor prognosis in several cancers. The aim of present study was to investigate the prognostic value of preoperative plasma fibrinogen in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients.

METHODS

Data were collected retrospectively from 302 HCC patients who received hepatectomy. The association between fibrinogen and clinicopathological characteristics was evaluated. Both univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to identify prognostic factors for disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS). And accordingly, the nomograms were constructed.

RESULTS

Elevated plasma fibrinogen (>4 g/L) was correlated with larger tumor diameter, the presence of vascular invasion, lower MELD score, higher NLR, advanced Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer stage and poor-moderate pathological differentiation. On multivariate analysis, the elevated plasma fibrinogen was found independently associated with poor DFS (HR =1.575, P=0.024) and OS (HR =2.051, P=0.025). And the nomograms including fibrinogen were constructed to predict DFS and OS for HCC patients. Both DFS and OS in patients with plasma fibrinogen >4 g/L were significantly lower than those with fibrinogen ≤4 g/L (1-, 3-, 5-year DFS: 34.2%, 19.5% and 0.0% vs. 60.4%, 34.2% and 30.2%; 1-, 3-, 5-year OS: 83.4%, 62.7% and 48.8% vs. 95.4%, 84.3% and 75.8%, both P<0.001). Besides, subgroup analyses also showed the prognostic values of fibrinogen in HCC patients with/without cirrhosis or high AFP levels, and in those with single tumor and BCLC 0-A stage.

CONCLUSIONS

Preoperative elevated plasma fibrinogen was an independent prognostic factor associated with poor prognosis in HCC patients receiving liver resection.

Preoperative neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio predicts the risk of microvascular invasion in hepatocellular carcinoma: A meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Preoperative estimation of microvascular invasion is of great significance for the clinical decision making in hepatocellular carcinoma. Neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) has been reported to be correlated with the poor prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma. However, the conclusions are conflicting on whether high preoperative NLR level is associated with the presence of microvascular invasion.

AIM

To evaluate the association between preoperative NLR level and the risk of microvascular invasion in hepatocellular carcinoma.

METHODS

Relevant studies were identified by searching PubMed and Embase through February 2019. Fixed or random models were applied to analyze the data based on the heterogeneity. Subgroup, sensitivity, and publication bias analyses were performed. Review Manager 5.3 and STATA software were used for the meta-analysis.

RESULTS

A total of 15 studies were eventually included in this meta-analysis. Pooled data based on retrospective cohort studies showed there are more hepatocellular carcinoma patients with vascular invasion (OR 1.74; 95% Cl 1.42, 2.12; P < 0.001) and microvascular invasion (OR 1.62 95% Cl 1.39, 1.89; P < 0.001) in the high NLR group than in the low NLR group. Of case-control studies, a higher preoperative NLR level was found in the microvascular invasion positive group than in the microvascular invasion negative group (OR 0.62; 95% Cl 0.35, 0.90; P < 0.001). The subgroup, sensitivity, and publication bias analyses did not change the results.

CONCLUSION

A higher preoperative NLR level is positively correlated with the risk of microvascular invasion in hepatocellular carcinoma.

Prognostic significance of the combination of preoperative fibrinogen and the neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio in patients with non-small cell lung cancer following surgical resection

The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the prognostic value of preoperative coagulation factor levels (including fibrinogen and D-dimer) and inflammatory indicators in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The medical records of 456 patients with NSCLC who had undergone curative resection were retrospectively analysed. The recommended cut-off values for preoperative fibrinogen, neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-lymphocyte ratio and lymphocyte-monocyte ratio were determined using receiver operating characteristic curve analyses. The associations between preoperative fibrinogen or D-dimer levels and clinicopathological variables were analysed using the χ² test. Univariate Kaplan-Meier analysis and a multivariate Cox proportional hazards model were applied to identify which prognostic variables were significantly associated with overall survival (OS) rates. Multivariate analyses revealed that lymph node metastasis (P<0.001), preoperative fibrinogen (P=0.024) and NLR (P=0.028) were effective independent prognostic variables associated with OS. Based on this result, a novel, single inflammation-based combination of fibrinogen and NLR (COF-NLR) score was proposed for the determination of prognosis. Patients with elevated fibrinogen and NLR levels were allocated a score of 2 (n=136), and those that demonstrated elevated levels of one or neither were allocated a score of 1 (n=152) or 0 (n=168), respectively. The 5-year OS rates were significantly poorer for patients with COF-NLR=2 compared with those with COF-NLR=1 or 0 (23.5% vs. 34.2% vs. 50.0%, P<0.001). A subgroup analysis demonstrated that the prognostic significance of COF-NLR was independent of histological subtype, lymph node metastasis and pathological stage. Therefore, COF-NLR has potential as a novel and useful blood marker for predicting tumour progression and the postoperative survival of patients with NSCLC. It may assist clinicians in risk stratification, prognosis predictions and facilitating individualised treatment.

Prognostic value of plasma fibrinogen in hepatocellular carcinoma: a meta-analysis

Background

Elevated plasma fibrinogen levels have been associated with tumor progression in several malignancies. Our study aims to characterize the clinical significance of elevated plasma fibrinogen levels in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Materials and methods

Relevant published articles were systematically searched in electronic databases including PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science. The pooled differences in plasma fibrinogen levels among HCC, cirrhotic, and control groups were expressed as weighted mean differences (WMDs) and their corresponding 95% CIs. The associations between elevated fibrinogen and overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS)/recurrence-free survival (RFS) were expressed as HRs and their 95% CIs, whereas the associations between elevated fibrinogen and various types of clinical characteristic of patients with HCC were expressed as ORs and their corresponding 95% CIs.

Results

Results showed that the plasma fibrinogen levels in patients with HCC were not significantly different than that in healthy controls (WMD = 0.50, 95% CI = [−0.82, 1.82], P = 0.457) or patients with cirrhosis (WMD = −0.62, 95% CI = [−1.56, 0.33], P = 0.200). However, our results showed that compared to those with normal levels, patients with HCC and elevated plasma fibrinogen levels showed poorer OS (HR = 2.08, 95% CI = [1.67, 2.59], P < 0.0001) and DFS/RFS (HR = 1.90, 95% CI = [1.52, 2.37], P < 0.0001). Results of trial sequential analysis of the OS indicated that currently available studies were sufficient to validate the negative prognostic value of elevated plasma fibrinogen in patients with HCC. Clinicopathological analyses showed that high plasma fibrinogen levels were associated with tumor progression as indicated by advanced tumor stage, larger tumor size, increased tumor number, and the presence of vascular invasion.

Conclusion

Elevated plasma fibrinogen levels are associated with poor prognosis and advanced tumor progression. Plasma fibrinogen may serve as a negative prognostic biomarker in patients with HCC.

Prognostic value of inflammation-based indexes for intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma following curative resection

It is widely acknowledged that inflammatory indices may serve as effective prognosis indicators for various malignancies. In the present study, the prognostic value of systemic inflammatory biomarkers for patients undergoing curative resection for intrahepatic cholangiocellular carcinoma (ICC) was investigated. Clinical data of ICC patients who underwent curative resection between September 2008 and July 2017 were collected. Inflammatory indictors were analyzed using the Area Under the Receiver Operating Characteristic Curve. Indictors that were significantly associated with the overall survival (OS) were used to establish a systemic inflammation-based score system and tested via nomogram using R software. The neutrophil To lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and lymphocyte to macrophages ratio (LMR) were significantly associated with the OS and disease-free survival of the patients. High NLR and low LMR were associated with worse clinicopathological and survival outcomes. The univariate and multivariate analyses indicated that tumor T stage, incisal margin, NLR and LMR were associated with the OS of the patients. The systemic inflammation-based scoring system based on LMR and NLR demonstrated a stronger discriminatory capacity and may serve as a useful prognostic parameter for patients undergoing curative resection for ICC. Low LMR and high NLR were observed to be associated with poor prognosis and worse clinical outcomes for patients with ICC undergoing curative surgery. A combined inflammation-based scoring system based on LMR and NLR may effectively predict the outcomes and serve as a novel prognostic predictor for these patients.

Preoperative high-sensitivity C-reactive protein to lymphocyte ratio index plays a vital role in the prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma after surgical resection

Background

At present, the predictive ability of the prognostic indicator of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is still limited. This study aims to analyze the relationship between the preoperative high-sensitivity C-reactive protein to lymphocyte ratio (HCLR) and the clinicopathologic characteristics of HCC.

Patients and methods

A total of 229 HCC patients undergoing surgical resection were retrospectively analyzed. The majority of the patients (132/229) had tumors larger than 5 cm, and 45 out of 229 had more than one tumor focus. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was used to decide the cutoff value of HCLR. The overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) rates were evaluated by adopting the Kaplan–Meier method.

Results

The cutoff value of HCLR for the best discrimination of HCC prognosis was 1.3 with a sensitivity of 75.5% and a specificity of 71.8%. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.791 (95% CI, 0.731–0.840). Preoperative HCLR at a high level (>1.3) was positively correlated with large tumor size, TNM stage, microvascular invasion, and recurrence. The mean OS and PFS in patients with HCLR >1.3 were significantly shorter than in those with HCLR ≤1.3. Univariate and multivariate analyses revealed the HCLR was an independent predictor of OS and PFS.

Conclusion

HCLR was an important independent predictor of dismal prognosis in HCC patients and can be used as a sensitive indicator for the dynamic monitoring of postoperative patients.

Preoperative albumin-bilirubin grade plus platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio predict the outcomes of patients with BCLC stage A hepatocellular carcinoma after liver resection

There is little information regarding the predictive ability of albumin-bilirubin grades (ALBI) plus platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) following liver resection. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the prognostic power of the ALBI-PLR score in patients with hepatitis B virus-related (HBV-related) HCC within Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) stage A after liver resection.Around 475 patients were included in this study. Patients with preoperative ALBI grades 1, 2, or 3 were allocated a score of 0, 1, or 2, respectively. Patients with preoperative PLR >150 or ≤150 were allocated a score of 0 or 1, respectively. The ALBI-PLR score was the summary of the ALBI and PLR scores.During the follow-up period, 256 patients experienced recurrence, and 150 patients died. Multivariate analysis revealed tumor size, multiple tumors, positive HBV-DNA load, cirrhosis, and ALBI-PLR score as being independently associated with postoperative recurrence, whereas tumor size, high preoperative α-fetoprotein level, and ALBI-PLR score were independent risk factors for postoperative mortality. HCC patients with high ALBI-PLR score had poor recurrence-free and overall survival.The preoperative ALBI-PLR score is a surrogate marker for predicting HBV-related HCC patient's prognosis after liver resection. A high ALBI-PLR score is associated with a high incidence of postoperative recurrence and mortality.

Prognostic significance of pretreatment plasma fibrinogen level in patients with digestive system tumors: a meta-analysis

High pretreatment levels of plasma fibrinogen have been widely reported to be a potential predictor of prognosis in digestive system tumors; however, the conclusions are not consistent. Therefore, we performed a meta-analysis to comprehensively assess the prognostic roles of high pretreatment plasma fibrinogen levels in digestive system tumors. We searched for eligible studies in the PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science electronic databases for publications from the database inception to 1 September 2017. The endpoints of interest included overall survival, disease-free survival, and recurrence-free survival. We investigated the relationship between fibrinogenemia and overall survival in colorectal cancer (10 studies), gastric cancer (6), pancreatic cancer (6), hepatocellular carcinoma (7), and esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (10); the pooled results indicated that fibrinogenemia was significantly related to a worse overall survival (hazard ratio (HR) 1.73; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.52, 1.97; P <0.001; HR 1.71; 95% CI 1.28, 2.28; P <0.001; HR 1.57; 95% CI 1.13, 2.17; P = 0.007; HR 1.89; 95% CI 1.57, 2.27; P <0.001, and HR 1.67; 95% CI 1.35, 2.07; P <0.001). Taken together, an increased pretreatment plasma fibrinogen level was related to worse survival in digestive system tumors, indicating that it could be a useful prognostic marker in these types of tumors.

Prognostic significance of pretreatment plasma fibrinogen in patients with hepatocellular and pancreatic carcinomas: A meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

The high pretreatment plasma fibrinogen has been widely reported to be a possible biomarker for predicting prognosis in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and pancreatic carcinoma (PC), but persuasive conclusion has not been made yet. Thus, we herein conducted a meta-analysis to comprehensively assess the prognostic value of high pretreatment plasma fibrinogen in patients with HCC and PC.

METHOD

We systematically searched PubMed, EMBASE, and Web of Science to identify eligible studies from inception to November 10, 2017.

RESULTS

Finally, a total of 12 publications with 13 studies were included. Of these eligible studies, 5 publications with 6 studies were about pancreatic cancer and 7 were about HCC. The pooled analysis indicated that high plasm fibrinogen level was significantly related to worse overall survival (OS) in HCC [hazard ratio (HR) = 1.87; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.55-2.24; P < .01]. Similarly, from our result, it was found that high plasm fibrinogen was also significantly associated with worse OS in PC (HR = 1.56; 95% CI: 1.13-2.15; P < .01).

CONCLUSION

Taken together, our meta-analysis confirmed that high plasma fibrinogen level could predict worse survival in HCC and PC.

Fibrinogen and C-reactive protein score is a prognostic index for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma undergoing curative resection: a prognostic nomogram study

Background: While curative resection is the established strategy for Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients, the prognosis still remains poor, and the efficiency of existing prediction models is unsatisfactory. Therefore, we aimed to develop a credible and easy-to-use prognostic index for patients with HCC undergoing curative therapy. Methods: A total of 768 patients with HCC, who underwent curative resection from December 2010 to June 2012 in Zhongshan Hospital, were divided into a training cohort with 616 patients and a validating cohort of 152 patients at a ratio of 4 to 1 by random allocation. Then, a retrospective cohort study was conducted to identify effective prognostic indexes. Results: FC-score, which incorporates fibrinogen and C-reactive protein, was established. In the multivariate analysis for OS and RFS, FC-score has shown to be a significant independent prognostic index in both the training cohort and validation cohort. Furthermore, the C-index of the FC-score for OS and RFS were 0.698 and 0.594 respectively, which were superior to other inflammation systems such as IBI, IBS, and GPS. Then, we developed a novel nomogram, which integrated FC-score into the conventional BCLC staging system. This new nomogram gave rise to a new C-index of 0.746 (95%CI: 0.743-0.749) for OS, and 0.654 (95%CI: 0.652-0.656) for RFS. The calibration curve and decision curve analysis indicated that our nomogram was highly consistent between predicted and actual observations. Conclusions: FC-score represents a novel, convenient, reliable, and accurate prognostic predictor for both OS and RFS in HCC patients undergoing curative therapy.

The association of plasma fibrinogen with clinicopathological features and prognosis in esophageal cancer patients

Background

Numerous studies have shown that plasma fibrinogen was linked to esophageal cancer (EC) risk. However, the clinical significance of plasma fibrinogen in EC patients remain unclear and need to be further clarified.

Results

A total of 2865 patients with EC from 11 published studies were included in this meta-analysis. The prognostic and clinical relevance of plasma fibrinogen were evaluated in EC patients. Statistical significance of the pooled hazard ratio (HR) was found for overall survival (OS), disease free survival (DFS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) in EC. Subgroup analyses for OS were also performed to confirm the prognostic value of plasma fibrinogen. Additionally, the overall results indicated that elevated plasma fibrinogen was significantly associated with tumor invasion, lymph node metastasis (LNM) and clinical stage.

Materials and Methods

A comprehensive literature retrieval was performed in PubMed, Embase, Cochrane database, Web of science and Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) and Wanfang databases to identify relevant studies published prior to April 15, 2017.

Conclusions

Elevated plasma fibrinogen could be served as a promising biomarker for predicting a poor prognosis and unfavorable clinicopathologic features for EC.

Inflammation scores predict the survival of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma who were treated with transarterial chemoembolization and recombinant human type-5 adenovirus H101

BACKGROUND

The systemic inflammatory response plays an important role in cancer development and progression. An original inflammation-based staging system for predicting survival in patients undergoing transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) combined with recombinant human type-5 adenovirus H101 is not available. This study aimed to validate the prognostic value of inflammation scores for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) who were treated with TACE combined with H101.

METHODS

The data from 216 patients with HCC who underwent TACE combined with H101 from January 2007 to July 2015 were retrospectively collected, and the association of the inflammation scores with overall survival (OS) was analyzed. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to identify variables associated with OS. The prognostic value of the inflammation scores, including the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), neutrophil/ platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR-PLR), modified Glasgow Prognostic Score (mGPS), prognostic nutritional index (PNI), prognostic index (PI), tumor-node-metastasis (TNM), Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) and Cancer of the Liver Italian Program (CLIP) staging systems were analyzed and compared using the areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves (AUROCs).

RESULTS

The estimated 1-, 2-, and 3-year OS rates were 61.3%, 44.2%, and 40.5% for the entire study cohort, respectively; the median OS was 17 months. According to the multivariate Cox proportional hazards model, the pretreatment NLR, tumor diameter and pretreatment alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) levels were independent predictors of OS. The CLIP score had superior discriminative abilities compared with other staging systems, and the NLR-PLR score consistently displayed a higher AUROC value than the other inflammation-based prognostic scores. The combination of the NLR-PLR and CLIP scores exhibited a superior prognostic ability for OS compared to the NLR-PLR or CLIP scores alone.

CONCLUSIONS

The NLR-PLR score is a more powerful predictive system than the other inflammation-based scores for patients with HCC who were treated with TACE and H101. The predictive ability may be improved by utilizing a combination of the NLR-PLR and CLIP scores.