The Combination of Inflammatory Biomarkers as Prognostic Indicator in Salivary Gland Malignancy

Cancers (Basel). 2022 Nov 30;14(23):5934. doi: 10.3390/cancers14235934.

Abstract

Background: The aim of this study was to investigate how the systemic inflammation response index (SIRI), systemic immune-inflammation index (SII), neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), taken individually and combined, are associated with overall survival (OS) in patients surgically treated for malignant salivary gland tumors (MSGTs). Methods: A retrospective analysis of 74 cases following surgery at our department between January 2011 and June 2018 was performed. The Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve was used to calculate the optimal cutoff values for SII, SIRI, PLR, and NLR. Survival curves of different groups at 1−3−5 years were estimated using the Kaplan−Meier method. Results: The optimal thresholds with the highest sensitivity and specificity were 3.95 for NLR, 187.6 for PLR, 917.585 for SII, and 2.045 for SIRI. The ROC curves revealed that the best combination with AUC = 0.884 was SII + SIRI. The estimated 5-year OS probability in patients with SII+ SIRI scores of 0, 1, and 2 was 96%, 87.5% and 12.5%, respectively (p < 0.001). Conclusion: SII+ SIRI can independently predict the OS of patients after MSGT surgery. The prognostic score system based on SII+ SIRI may be good clinical practice as a reference for clinical decision-making.

Keywords: malignant salivary gland tumors; neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio; platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio; systemic immune-inflammation index; systemic inflammation response index.

Grants and funding

This research received no external funding.