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Published on: September 27, 2024
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Red cell distribution width as a prognostic predictor for colorectal cancer: a meta-analysis
Ruixue Fan1,2, Yijiang Zhang1,2, Junwei Feng3,4
1Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, 050000, Hebei, China.
Summary
Elevated red cell distribution width (RDW) before surgery is linked to worse survival in colorectal cancer (CRC) patients. RDW-standard deviation (SD) may be a better predictor of outcomes.
Area of Science:
- Oncology
- Hematology
- Biomarkers
Background:
- Red cell distribution width (RDW) is a readily available hematological measure reflecting systemic inflammation and nutritional status.
- The prognostic significance of RDW in colorectal cancer (CRC) requires further clarification.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the predictive value of preoperative red cell distribution width (RDW) for postoperative survival in colorectal cancer (CRC) patients.
- To determine if RDW can serve as a prognostic biomarker in CRC.
Main Methods:
- A systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted following PRISMA guidelines.
- Searches were performed across Cochrane Library, Embase, PubMed, and Web of Science for relevant studies.
- Meta-analysis and subgroup analyses were performed using Stata 15 to assess heterogeneity and consistency.
Main Results:
- The meta-analysis included 16 studies with 20,500 CRC patients.
- Elevated preoperative RDW-coefficient of variation (CV) correlated with poorer overall survival (OS) (HR=1.27).
- RDW-standard deviation (SD) showed a stronger association with survival (HR=1.89), and high RDW-CV independently predicted inferior disease-free survival (HR=1.16).
Conclusions:
- Increased preoperative RDW is independently associated with adverse postoperative survival outcomes in CRC patients.
- RDW-SD may possess superior predictive power compared to RDW-CV.
- RDW is a cost-effective biomarker with potential for postoperative risk stratification in CRC, but further prospective studies are needed for validation.
