The prognostic role of a combined fibrinogen and inflammation-based index in patients with metastatic breast cancer

• Published in: Translational cancer research 2020-11, Vol.9 (11), p.7065-7078
• Main Authors: Liu, Qiuge, Fang, Shuangshuang, Liang, Shanshan, Lv, Jinyan, Wang, Gang, Tang, Rongbin, Ji, Xuening, Zhao, Tong, Li, Jiaoyang, Xu, Lu, Ma, Lianli, Wang, Ruoyu, Li, Heming
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Original
• ISSN: 2218-676X; 2219-6803
• DOI: 10.21037/tcr-20-2157

The activation of inflammation and coagulation cascades plays an essential role in the development of various malignancies, including metastatic breast cancer (MBC). This retrospective study aimed to investigate the prognostic role of the combination of fibrinogen and the inflammation-based index in patients with MBC. A total of 176 patients with MBC were retrospectively reviewed. The clinical and pathological data of included patients were followed-up and analyzed. The plasma fibrinogen concentration (FIB), neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), and platelet-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) were measured. Dynamic variations in the FIB, NLR, and PLR values were collected from 56 MBC patients before and after first-line therapy. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were constructed to assess the optimal cut-off values. Correlations between FIB and NLR or PLR were evaluated using Spearman correlation analysis. The Kaplan-Meier method, two-tailed log-rank test, and Cox proportional hazard model were used for statistical analysis. Baseline FIB was positively correlated with NLR and PLR values in MBC patients (P