Association between different types of preoperative anemia and tumor characteristics, systemic inflammation, and survival in colorectal cancer

PeerJ. 2023 Dec 21:11:e16293. doi: 10.7717/peerj.16293. eCollection 2023.

Abstract

Background: Patients with colorectal cancer often have anemia and other symptoms after diagnosis, especially in patients with advanced colorectal cancer. This study explored the association between different types of preoperative anemia and tumor characteristics and inflammatory response in patients with colorectal cancer and to evaluate the prognosis of patients with different types of anemia before operation.

Methods: The clinical data of 95 patients with colorectal cancer treated in the Fourth Hospital of Hebei Medical University from February 2016 to January 2018 were retrospectively analyzed. According to the hemoglobin concentration (Hb), mean corpuscular volume (MCV), mean hemoglobin content (MCH) and mean hemoglobin concentration (MCHC), the patients were divided into the non-anemia group, normal cell anemia group, and small cell anemia group. The three groups' general data, oncological characteristics, and mGPS scores were compared. The patients were followed up for five years, and the survival analysis was carried out. The cox proportional hazard regression model was used to analyze the prognostic factors of patients with colorectal cancer.

Results: The preoperative anemia rate of patients with colorectal cancer was 43.15% (41/95). There were significant differences in gender, weight loss, CA724, tumor location, tumor size, TNM stage, mGPS score, and positive expression rate of Ki-67 among different anemia groups. There was a significant difference in survival time among a non-anemia group, small cell anemia group, and normal cell anemia group (P < 0.05). Multivariate analysis showed that tumor size, TNM stage, distant metastasis, mGPS score, Ki-67 positive expression rate, and anemia type were independent risk factors affecting the prognosis of colorectal cancer patients (P < 0.05).

Conclusion: The oncological characteristics of colorectal cancer patients with different types of preoperative anemia are different. Preoperative anemia and systemic inflammatory status are independent risk factors for the prognosis of colorectal cancer patients.

Keywords: Anemia; Colorectal cancer; Inflammation; Prognosis; Risk factors.

MeSH terms

  • Anemia* / complications
  • Colorectal Neoplasms* / complications
  • Hemoglobins
  • Humans
  • Inflammation / complications
  • Ki-67 Antigen
  • Retrospective Studies

Substances

  • Ki-67 Antigen
  • Hemoglobins

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the Health Commission of Hebei Province (No. 20210042). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.