The prognostic value of C-reactive protein/albumin ratio in human malignancies: an updated meta-analysis

• Published in: OncoTargets and therapy Vol. 10; pp. 3059 - 3070
• Main Authors: Xu, Hong-Jun, Ma, Yan, Deng, Fang, Ju, Wen-Bo, Sun, Xin-Yi, Wang, Hua
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New Zealand Dove Medical Press Limited 01.01.2017; Taylor & Francis Ltd; Dove Medical Press
• Subjects: Analysis; C-reactive protein; C-reactive protein/Albumin ratio (CAR); Cancer therapies; Cancer treatment; Care and treatment; Colorectal cancer; Epstein-Barr virus; Human malignancies; Inflammation; Liver cancer; Lung cancer; Lymphocytes; Medical prognosis; Meta-analysis; Mortality; Neutrophils; Prognosis; Proteins; Public health; Review; Systematic review; Tumors; China; human malignancies; meta-analysis; C-reactive protein/albumin ratio; prognosis
• ISSN: 1178-6930; 1178-6930
• DOI: 10.2147/ott.s137002

This study aims to investigate the prognostic value of pretreatment C-reactive protein/albumin ratio (CAR) in human malignancies by an updated meta-analysis. PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library and Wanfang databases were searched. Pooled hazard ratios (HRs) and odds ratios (ORs) with their corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used as effective values. A total of 25 studies with 12,097 patients were included in this meta-analysis. Pooled results showed that high pretreatment CAR was associated with poor overall survival (OS) (HR =1.99, 95% CI: 1.65-2.40, =0.000) and poor disease-free survival (HR =1.55, 95% CI: 1.34-1.79, =0.000). In addition, high pretreatment CAR was associated with increased 5-year mortality (OR =2.74, 95% CI: 2.11-3.55, =0.000). Moreover, subgroup analysis demonstrated that high CAR was associated with poor OS despite variations in publication year, country, sample size, CAR cut-off value and treatment. However, high CAR was associated with poor OS in human malignancies except colorectal cancer (HR =1.64, 95% CI: 0.96-2.80, =0.069). High pretreatment CAR indicates poor prognosis in human malignancies except colorectal cancer. Thus, pretreatment CAR serves as a prognostic marker in human malignancies and could be used in the evaluation of prognosis in clinical work.