Prognostic Value of Inflammatory and Nutritional Biomarkers of Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor Treatment for Recurrent or Metastatic Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Head and Neck

Abstract

This study aimed to determine the prognostic value of inflammatory and nutritional biomarkers of immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) therapy for recurrent or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (RMHNSCC) and to identify the most useful factor for prognosis assessment. We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of patients with RMHNSCC who received ICI therapy. The response rate for ICI therapy and the relationship between inflammatory and nutritional biomarkers and overall survival were examined. The included biomarkers did not correlate with an objective response rate but were associated with a disease control rate. Univariate analysis showed significant correlations between the serum albumin level, C-reactive protein level, platelet to lymphocyte ratio, neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio, lymphocyte to monocyte ratio (LMR), systemic immune-inflammation index, and controlling the nutritional status score and overall survival; multivariate analysis showed that LMR was significantly correlated with overall survival. LMR was the most important biomarker according to the machine learning model. This study suggests that LMR may be the most useful biomarker for predicting the prognosis of ICI treatment for RMHNSCC.

Prognostic value of controlling nutritional status on clinical and survival outcomes in cancer patients treated with immunotherapy

“…The salient features of the incorporated articles are succinctly outlined in Table 2 . Three of these investigations were conducted in Japan 23 , 28 , 29 , and five in China 24 , 26 , 27 , 30 , 31 . The range of NOS scores observed in the research encompassed values between 6 and 9, signifying that all included studies exhibited a high level of quality.…”

“…The range of NOS scores observed in the research encompassed values between 6 and 9, signifying that all included studies exhibited a high level of quality. All seven studies included in the analysis were retrospective 23 , 24 , 26 , 28 – 31 , while one was single-arm study 27 . Two studies were conducted in patients diagnosed with ESCC patients 30 , 31 ; one study was in HCC patients 27 , one study was in esophageal cancer (EC) patients 26 , one study was in GC patients 24 , one study was in NSCLC patients 23 , one study was in squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (HNSCC) patients 28 , and one study was in RCC patients 29 .…”

“…All seven studies included in the analysis were retrospective 23 , 24 , 26 , 28 – 31 , while one was single-arm study 27 . Two studies were conducted in patients diagnosed with ESCC patients 30 , 31 ; one study was in HCC patients 27 , one study was in esophageal cancer (EC) patients 26 , one study was in GC patients 24 , one study was in NSCLC patients 23 , one study was in squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (HNSCC) patients 28 , and one study was in RCC patients 29 . Furthermore, 7 studies reported CONUT’s role in prognosticating OS outcome 23 , 24 , 26 , 28 – 31 , all 8 studies provided the data of CONUT for PFS prognosis 23 , 24 , 26 – 31 , 3 studies provided the data of CONUT for DCR prognosis 23 , 26 , 28 , and 4 studies provided the data of CONUT for ORR prognosis 23 , 26 , 28 , 31 .…”

Development of a haematological indices-based nomogram for prognostic prediction and immunotherapy response assessment in primary pulmonary lymphoepithelioma-like carcinoma patients

“…In this study, we employed a practical machine learning approach to manage high-dimensional data and select relevant hematological biomarkers for prognostic assessment in PPLELC patients undergoing immunotherapy, based on which the HIBS was constructed, comprising 14 factors that reflect aspects of tumor metabolism, systemic inflammation and nutritional status. These factors are known to correlate with tumor development, treatment response and survival outcomes ( 21 - 25 ). We observed that patients in the disease progression group exhibited significantly higher HIBS scores than those in the no-progression group.…”

Ultra‐high combined positive score and high serum albumin are favorable prognostic biomarkers for immune checkpoint inhibitors in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma

“…Numerous predictors of efficacy have been reported in addition to CPS. While there are factors such as tumor mutational burden (TMB) and T‐cell‐induced gene expression profile 10 that can only be measured with expensive equipment, several biomarkers have been reported as scores that reflect the host's nutritional status and immune response, such as serum albumin level, 11 blood lymphocyte count, neutrophil‐lymphocyte ratio (NLR), 12 and lymphocyte‐to‐monocyte ratio (LMR) 13 . Unlike prospective clinical trials, the present study focused on albumin and neutrophil‐lymphocyte ratio, which are clinically very easy to use, to evaluate their effects on treatment efficacy as well as ultra‐high CPS, considering that patients with different nutritional and immunological conditions will be included.…”