The Predictive Role of Inflammatory Biomarkers in Patients With Larynx Cancer Undergoing Definitive Radiotherapy

Inflammation plays an important role in the process of cancer development. The number of studies evaluating the ability of inflammatory biomarkers to predict survival has increased in recent years. This study aimed to comprehensively evaluate the predictive role of inflammatory biomarkers in patients with larynx cancer undergoing definitive radiotherapy. A total of 101 patients who underwent definitive radiotherapy for larynx cancer at our center were retrospectively examined. Blood samples were taken from the patients before radiotherapy to obtain biomarkers such as C-reactive protein (CRP), neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), monocyte-lymphocyte ratio (MLR), systemic immune-inflammation index (SII), pan-immune inflammatory value (PIV), hemo-eosinophil inflammation index (HEI), albumin, and Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH). The study examined the predictive value of parameters for progression-free survival (PFS), local recurrence-free survival (LRFS), and overall survival (OS) using both univariate and multivariate Cox regression analysis. In the univariate analysis, the biomarkers that predicted PFS were SII, PIV, CRP, and Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group Performance Status (ECOG PS). According to the multivariate analysis, only CRP was found to be a significant predictor of PFS. In the univariate analysis, the following biomarkers were found to predict OS: NLR, PLR, MLR, SII, PIV, CRP, HEI, stage, and ECOG PS. In the multivariate analysis, NLR and ECOG PS were found to be predictors of OS. A significant difference was found in MLR, PIV, and CRP values based on the presence of lymphatic metastasis. The current study is the first to comprehensively examine the relationship between larynx cancer and several inflammatory biomarkers. Many of these biomarkers have been shown to predict both PFS and OS in patients with larynx cancer undergoing definitive radiotherapy. It has been shown that PIV and CRP may predict the presence of lymphatic metastases in addition to PFS and OS.