Background: This study aimed to investigate the diagnostic value of prealbumin-to-fibrinogen ratio (PFR) and albumin-to-fibrinogen ratio (AFR) alone or in combination in Helicobacter pylori-negative gastric cancer (Hp-NGC) patients.
Methods: This study included 171 healthy controls, 180 Hp-NGC patients, and 215 Helicobacter pylori-negative chronic gastritis (HpN) patients. We compared the differences of various indicators and pathological characteristics between groups with Mann-Whitney U test and Chi-square test. The diagnostic value of PFR and AFR alone or in combination for Hp-NGC patients was assessed by the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve.
Results: PFR and AFR were related to the progression and clinicopathological characteristics of Hp-NGC. As the disease progressed, PFR and AFR values gradually decreased and were negatively related to the tumor size and depth of invasion. In addition, the area under the curves (AUCs) that resulted from combining PFR and AFR to distinguish Hp-NGC patients from healthy controls and HpN patients were 0.908 and 0.654, respectively. When combined with PFR and AFR in the differential diagnosis of tumors with a maximum diameter ≥ 5 cm and the T3 + T4 stage, the AUCs were 0.949 and 0.922; the sensitivity was 86.32% and 80.74%; and the specificity was 94.74% and 92.98%, respectively.
Conclusions: PFR and AFR may be used as diagnostic biomarkers for Hp-NGC. The combination of PFR and AFR was more valuable than each indicator alone in the diagnosis of Hp-NGC.
Keywords: Hp-negative gastric cancer; Prealbumin-to-fibrinogen ratio; albumin-to-fibrinogen ratio; diagnostic value.