Predictive value of platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio combined with CA199 levels in postoperative survival of patients with gastric cancer: A retrospective study

Objective: To develop a new scoring system based on platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) and CA199 to predict the prognosis of gastric cancer.Methods: PLR-CA199 was identified in a retrospective study that was conducted in a training cohort of 990 gastric cancer patients who underwent curable resection from 2012 to 2014 and validated in a validation cohort of 625 patients between 2015 and 2016.Results: In the training cohort, PLR-CA199 was related to gender (P = 0.041), age (P = 0.014), tumor location (P = 0.015), tumor size (P < 0.001), Bormann type (P < 0.001), vascular invasion (P < 0.001), perineural invasion (P < 0.001), and TNM staging (P < 0.001). In the validation cohort, PLR-CA199 was related to tumor size (P < 0.001), Bormann type (P = 0.007), vascular invasion (P < 0.001), perineural invasion (P < 0.001), and TNM staging (P < 0.001). Survival analysis showed that in the training cohort the mean disease-free survival (DFS) was 70.699 months for patients PLR-CA199 = 0, 51.223 months for patients PLR-CA199 = 1, and 32.152 months for patients PLR-CA199 = 2 (P < 0.001). The correlation between PLR-CA199 and DFS was further confirmed in the validation cohort (50.640 vs. 41.842 vs. 22.382, P < 0.001). Survival analysis showed that the mean disease special survival (DSS) was 76.668 months for patients PLR-CA199 = 0, 61.218 months for patients PLR-CA199 = 1, and 44.665 months for patients PLR-CA199 = 2 in the training cohort (P < 0.001). The correlation between PLR-CA199 and DSS was further confirmed in the validation cohort (53.858 vs. 46.385 vs. 44.665, P < 0.001). Furthermore, univariate and multivariate analyses showed that PLR-CA199 was an independent prognostic factor for DFS and DSS.Conclusions: Preoperative PLR-CA199 may be a useful prognostic indicator, and is a promising tool for predicting the prognosis for gastric cancer.

Automated summary

Objective: To develop a new scoring system based on platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) and CA199 to predict the prognosis of gastric cancer. This study found that the PLR-CA199 score was associated with various clinical factors of gastric cancer and had a significant correlation with disease-free survival (DFS) and disease-specific survival (DSS) in both the training and validation cohorts. The PLR-CA199 score was identified as an independent prognostic factor for gastric cancer.