Preoperative inflammation-based scores predict early recurrence after lung cancer resection

Inflammation in the tumor microenvironment is hypothesized to have a major role in cancer invasiveness, progression, and metastases. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prognostic value of preoperative inflammation-based scores in terms of estimating the timing of recurrence by hazard curves in a cohort of operable, early-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients.

A total of 387 patients with NSCLC who underwent complete pulmonary resection from 2010 to 2019 had their C-reactive protein-to-albumin ratio (CAR), neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), Glasgow prognostic score (GPS), modified GPS, systemic immune-inflammation index (SII), and advance lung cancer inflammation index (ALI) measurements taken before surgery. Hazard curves indicating changes in hazards over time were evaluated.

Median follow-up was 39.2 months. In total, 105 patients (27.1%) experienced recurrence. The resulting hazard curve with elevated CAR, SII, GPS, and mGPS, values displayed an initial high peak during the first year. Multivariate analyses showed that an elevated CAR [hazard ratio (HR), 1.987; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.202-3.284] independently predicted the recurrence-free survival. Even in stage I disease, patients with elevated CAR and SII values showed an earlier peak of recurrence, which was about 12 to 16 months earlier than those with low values.

Even after complete resection of stage I NSCLC, patients with elevated CAR and SII values retain a high risk of early recurrence. Preoperative inflammation-based scores can be an objective, simple, and cost-effective measurement for predicting early recurrence of NSCLC.