Linear regression analysis for complete blood count parameters during radiotherapy

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Hematology
• Radiation Oncology

Background:

• Complete blood count (CBC) monitoring is crucial during cancer radiotherapy.
• Understanding factors influencing CBC during treatment can optimize patient care and outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate correlations between complete blood count (CBC) parameters during radiotherapy and patient/treatment variables.
• To identify predictors of CBC changes throughout radiation therapy.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective analysis of 496 radiotherapy courses and 1884 weekly CBC results.
• Linear regression models were used to assess associations between baseline CBC, patient demographics, treatment factors, and CBC during radiation.
• Data validation was performed on 20% of the cohort.

Main Results:

• Baseline hemoglobin (Hb) strongly predicted Hb levels during treatment (R-squared 0.6-0.71).
• Male sex, radiotherapy site (pelvis, bone, head/neck, brain), and concurrent chemotherapy were significantly associated with Hb changes.
• White blood cell count, neutrophils, absolute neutrophil count, and platelets showed weaker correlations with predictive factors.

Conclusions:

• Linear regression effectively models Hb changes during radiotherapy.
• Hb levels during radiation are influenced by baseline values, patient sex, treatment site, and concurrent chemotherapy, but not cumulative dose.