Systemic immune‐inflammation index has prognostic significance in pancreatic carcinoma patients: a meta-analysis

Abstract

Background Systemic immune-inflammation index (SII) is reportedly a prognostic indicator for several malignancies, including pancreatic carcinoma, although there exists no consensus regarding its significance. In the current study, we used a systematically meta-analysis to evaluate the association between SII and prognosis in pancreatic carcinoma patients. Methods We screened PubMed, Embase and Cochrane Library databases, through May 2020, and retrieved studies describing the prognostic role of SII in pancreatic carcinoma. We calculated pooled hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) using a random or fixed effects models to reveal the correlation between SII and prognosis. Results A total of 4 studies, comprising 1,749 patients, met our inclusion criteria and were therefore eligible for inclusion. Our meta-analysis showed that elevated SII indicated significantly worse overall survival in patients with pancreatic carcinoma (HR: 1.43, 95% CI: 1.24–1.65, P < 0.001), with subgroup analyses, stratified by the TNM stage and treatment, further validating these results. In addition, patients with high SII had poorer cancer-specific survival (HR: 2.32, 95% CI: 1.55–3.48, P < 0.001). However, we found no significant associations between SII with disease-free and relapse-free survival. Conclusions These findings indicate that SII is a potential non-invasive and promising tool for predicting clinical outcomes of pancreatic carcinoma patients. However, further studies using adequate designs and larger sample sizes are required to validate our findings.