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Meta-Analysis
. 2019 Nov 2;17(1):177.
doi: 10.1186/s12957-019-1725-2.

Prognostic role of the advanced lung cancer inflammation index in cancer patients: a meta-analysis

Xin Hua  1 , Jing Chen  2 , Ying Wu  2 , Jun Sha  1 , Shuhua Han  2 , Xiaoli Zhu  3   4
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

Prognostic role of the advanced lung cancer inflammation index in cancer patients: a meta-analysis

Xin Hua et al. World J Surg Oncol. .

Abstract

Background: Inflammation plays a critical role in the development and progression of cancers. The advanced lung cancer inflammation index (ALI) is thought to be able to reflect systemic inflammation better than current biomarkers. However, the prognostic significance of the ALI in various types of cancer remains unclear. Our meta-analysis aimed to comprehensively investigate the relationship between the ALI and oncologic outcomes to help physicians better assess the prognosis of cancer patients.

Methods: The PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, and Wanfang databases were searched for relevant studies. Hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) were calculated and pooled from the included studies. Furthermore, a sensitivity analysis was performed to evaluate the reliability of the articles. Finally, Begg's test, Egger's test, and the funnel plot were applied to assess the significance of publication bias.

Results: In total, 1736 patients from nine studies were included in our meta-analysis. The median cutoff value for the ALI was 23.2 (range, 15.5-37.66) in the analyzed studies. The meta-analysis showed that there was a statistically significant relationship between a low ALI and worse overall survival (OS) in various types of cancer (HR = 1.70, 95% CI = 1.41-1.99, P < 0.001). Moreover, results from subgroup meta-analysis showed that the ALI had a significant prognostic value in non-small cell lung cancer, small cell lung cancer, colorectal cancer, head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, and diffuse large B cell lymphoma (P < 0.05 for all).

Conclusions: These results showed that a low ALI was associated with poor OS in various types of cancer, and the ALI could act as an effective prognostic biomarker in cancer patients.

Keywords: Advanced lung cancer inflammation index (ALI); Cancer; Meta-analysis; Prognosis.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
PRISMA flow diagram for this meta-analysis
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Forest plot of studies assessing the relationship between ALI and OS. Abbreviations: ALI advanced lung cancer inflammation index, OS overall survival
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Sensitivity analysis of the relationship between the ALI and OS. Abbreviations: ALI advanced lung cancer inflammation index, OS overall survival
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Funnel plot of the relationship between the ALI and OS. Abbreviations: ALI advanced lung cancer inflammation index, OS overall survival
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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