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. 2021 Dec 30;14(1):169.
doi: 10.3390/cancers14010169.

Prognostic Value of the B12/CRP Index in Older Systemically Treatable Cancer Patients

Coline Montegut  1   2 , Florian Correard  3 , Emilie Nouguerède  1   2 , Dominique Rey  1   2 , Thomas Chevalier  4 , Marie Meurer  4 , Jean-Laurent Deville  4 , Marjorie Baciuchka  5 , Vincent Pradel  6 , Laurent Greillier  5   7 , Patrick Villani  1   2   8 , Anne-Laure Couderc  1   2   8
Affiliations

Prognostic Value of the B12/CRP Index in Older Systemically Treatable Cancer Patients

Coline Montegut et al. Cancers (Basel). .

Abstract

Background: While comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) in older patients treated for cancer assesses several related domains, it does not include standardized biological tests. The present study aimed to: (1) assess the prognosis value of the B12/CRP index (BCI) in a population of systemically treatable older patients with cancer and (2) analyze the association between BCI value and pre-existing geriatric frailty.

Method: We conducted a retrospective observational study between January 2016 and June 2020 at Marseille University Hospital. All consecutive cancer patients aged 70 years and over before initiating systemic therapy were included.

Results: Of the 863 patients included, 60.5% were men and 42.5% had metastatic stage cancer. Mean age was 81 years. The low-BCI group (≤10,000) had a significantly longer survival time than the mid-BCI (10,000 < BCI ≤ 40,000) and high-BCI (BCI > 40,000) groups (HR = 0.327, CI95% [0.26-0.42], p-value = 0.0001). Mid- and high-BCI (BCI > 40,000) values were associated with impaired functional status and malnutrition.

Conclusion: A BCI > 10,000 would appear to be a good biological prognostic factor for poor survival times and pre-existing geriatric impairment in older cancer patients before they initiate systemic treatment.

Keywords: C-reactive protein; frailty; medical oncology; older patients; serum vitamin B12 level.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flow chart.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Overall survival time (panel A), overall survival time according to BCI level and BCI group (panel B), multivariate COX survival analysis (panel C). BCI: B12/CRP index; aHR: adjusted hazard ratio. Significant p-values were highlighted in bold.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Multivariate COX Analysis in the four prominent sites of our population: thoracic (panel 3A), gastro-intestinal (panel 3B), prostate (panel 3C) and breast (panel 3D). Gender was excluded from the Cox analysis of prostate (only males) and breast (too few male to perform analysis n = 3). Significant p-values were highlighted in bold.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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