Objective: Growing epidemiological evidence supports that coagulation cascades and cancer-associated inflammation are associated with recurrence and survival of epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC). This study aimed to assess the clinical significance of the combination of plasm fibrinogen and neutrophil lymphocyte ratio (F-NLR) score to predict EOC prognosis, including recurrence, disease-free survival (DFS), and overall survival (OS).
Patients and Methods: We retrospectively enrolled 281 EOC patients who underwent surgery at our institution. According to receiver operating characteristic curve, cut-off values of fibrinogen and NLR were set at 3.44 g/L and 2.46, respectively, to predict recurrence. The F-NLR score was then classified into three groups as follows: F-NLR score of 2: both hyperfibrinogenemia (> 3.44 mg/dL) and high NLR (> 2.46), F-NLR score of 1: either hyperfibrinogenemia or high NLR, and F-NLR score of 0: neither of the abnormalities. Continuous and categorical variables were compared using T-test and chi-square test among F-NLR groups. The Cox hazard regression model was used to assess prognostic factors. Both DFS and OS curves were generated by Kaplan–Meier method.
Results: The analyses showed that F-NLR was significantly associated with clinical stage (P =0.000), lymphatic metastasis (P =0.001), and carbohydrate antigen (CA) 125 level (P =0.048). The F-NLR (hazard ratio=2.211; 95% confidence interval=1.251– 6.394; P =0.002) was demonstrated as an independent prognostic factor for survival of EOC. The DFS rates in F-NLR groups 0, 1, and 2 were 68.5%, 47.7%, and 31.7%, respectively (P =0.000); the OS rates in previous groups were 75.9%, 51.4%, and 34.2% (P =0.000) and the 5-year survival times (mean±SD, months) were 64.24± 24.21, 60.27± 22.65, and 46.09± 20.32, respectively. By subgroup analysis, the F-NLR was significantly associated with DFS and OS among patients with advanced tumor stage (Stage III or IV) or lymphatic metastasis.
Conclusion: The pre-operative F-NLR score, a novel inflammation-based grading system, was a promising prognosis predictor for EOC patients, especially those with advanced clinical stage and those with lymph node metastasis.
Keywords: fibrinogen, neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio, epithelial ovarian cancer, prognosis, F-NLR