Prognostic value of pre-treatment inflammatory markers in patients with locally advanced breast cancer (LABC) from Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Background: Inflammation is a recognized factor in cancer progression and resistance to treatments. Several studies correlated inflammatory-related peripheral blood indices to disease progression and poor survival in various cancer types and different populations. Nonetheless, inflammation is affected by the distinctive characteristics and environmental exposure of each people. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the data of female patients with LABC undergoing neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT). Demographics, BMI, clinicopathologic characteristics, stage of the tumor, follow-up status, and response to treatment were collected. Outcomes were evaluated concerning the high and low groups of inflammatory markers based on the cut-off values of NLR and RDW. Results: A total of 172 patients met the eligibility criteria among patients diagnosed with breast cancer (BC) from January 2014 to December 2020. At the time of diagnosis, the mean age was (53.4± 11), BMI was (31.2 ± 6). Left BC accounted (54.7%) and the majority were moderately differentiated (51.2%), and ductal carcinoma (85.5%), ER-positive tumor in (79.1%), HER2-positive in (32%), TNBC in (9.8%). Only normal RDW and Low NLR were significantly associated with a type of response post NACT with P values (0.003) and (0.014) respectively, with significant response type complete remission (71.5%) based on the radiological evaluation. Conclusion: RDW and NLR could be applicable biomarkers to predict response after systemic therapy among LABC. The great advantage of these biomarkers depends on routine tests before treatment, and it is cost-effective in the diagnostic plan.