High Level of Pre-Treatment C-Reactive Protein-to-Albumin Ratio Predicts Inferior Prognosis in Diffuse Large B Cell Lymphoma

• Published in: Blood 2018-11, Vol.132 (Supplement 1), p.1709-1709
• Main Authors: Jung, Jongheon, Lee, Eunyoung, Park, Weon Seo, Park, Ju-Hyun, Eom, Hyeon-Seok, Lee, Hyewon
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0006-4971; 1528-0020
• DOI: 10.1182/blood-2018-99-116205

Introduction Diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is the most common highly aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) worldwide. The International Prognostic Index (IPI) has been established as a useful prognostic marker, and there have been some proposed markers which could reflect tumor microenvironment including neutrophil, lymphocyte, platelet, serum globulin, ferritin and serum free light chain. C-reactive protein (CRP) is one of the commonly used inflammatory markers, and its clinical relevance has been suggested recently in various malignancies. Serum albumin is a representative marker for nutritional status, and previous studies have presented that hypoalbuminemia might be an indicator of cancer-related inflammation as well. In this point of view, C-reactive-to-albumin ratio (CAR) has been suggested as one of easily-accessible parameters which could be a robust prognostic marker in diverse malignancies such as lung cancer, gastric cancer and colorectal cancer. However, its clinical value has not been assessed in hematologic malignancies. In this study, we evaluated the prognostic effect of CAR in DLBCL. Methods This retrospective study included 186 patients who were histologically diagnosed with DLBCL and treated with R-CHOP (Rituximab, Cyclophosphamide, Doxorubicin, Vincristine and Prednisone) between 2006 and 2018 at National Cancer Center, Korea. One hundred forty one cases were identified whose baseline laboratory values including CRP and albumin were available, and then the medical records were reviewed. To define the appropriate cutoff value of CAR in patients with DLBCL, cutoff finder method was applied which had been suggested by Budczies et al., and the most discriminative point was designated by the value of 0.158. Clinical characteristics and outcomes including response rate, overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) were investigated between high and low CAR group. Additionally, the clinical value of CAR was compared to the components of IPI for DLBCL as well. Results Of all patients, 73 (51.8%) were classified as high CAR group. Male was 42 (57.5%) in high CAR group and 37 (54.4%) in low CAR group. In terms of IPI, 21 (28.8%) were classified into high IPI (score of 4 or 5) in high CAR group - 6 (8.8%) in low CAR group in comparison. Hans criteria was applied to discriminate germinal center B-cell (GCB) subtype to non-GCB subtype by immunohistochemistry and after 12 patients removed due to missing GCB status, 56 (84.8%) in