Prognostic Value of a Serum Panel of Inflammatory Factors in Non-Metastatic Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Patients Undergoing Radical Radiotherapy with Adjuvant Chemotherapy

Ting Liang; Ding Xiao; Shanshan Lu; Xu Ye; Zhiqiang Xiao

doi:10.2147/CMAR.S371922

Prognostic Value of a Serum Panel of Inflammatory Factors in Non-Metastatic Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Patients Undergoing Radical Radiotherapy with Adjuvant Chemotherapy

Cancer Manag Res. 2022 Sep 16:14:2763-2772. doi: 10.2147/CMAR.S371922. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Ting Liang^{1

2

3

4

5

6}, Ding Xiao^{2

3

7}, Shanshan Lu^{2

3}, Xu Ye⁸, Zhiqiang Xiao^{1

2

3}

Affiliations

¹ National Clinical Research Center of Geriatric Disorders, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, 410008, People's Republic of China.
² Research Center of Carcinogenesis and Targeted Therapy, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, 410008, People's Republic of China.
³ Higher Educational Key Laboratory for Cancer Proteomics and Translational Medicine of Hunan Province, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, 410008, People's Republic of China.
⁴ Department of Hematology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, 410008, People's Republic of China.
⁵ Hunan Hematology Oncology Clinical Medical Research Center, Changsha, 410008, People's Republic of China.
⁶ National Clinical Research Center for Hematologic Diseases, The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, 215006, People's Republic of China.
⁷ Department of Pathology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, 410008, People's Republic of China.
⁸ Department of Radiation Oncology, Hunan Cancer Hospital, The Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Xiangya School of Medicine, Central South University, Changsha, 410008, People's Republic of China.

Abstract

Purpose: To evaluate the prognostic value of interleukin (IL)-6, IL-8, granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF), and macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) in non-metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients undergoing radical radiotherapy.

Patients and methods: A serum panel compromising the inflammatory factors was analyzed in 372 NPC patients before and after radiotherapy. Independent prognostic factors were screened out using multivariate Cox regression analysis. A prediction model was built based on the training set data and validated using the test set data. The prognostic value of these factors was evaluated using the time-dependent receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and an integrated time-averaged area under the curve (AUC).

Results: The baseline levels of IL-6, GM-CSF, and MIF were independent factors associated with poor OS and DMFS. A predictive model base established combining the baseline levels of these factors. The AUC values for the test set were 0.9828, 0.9968, and 0.9571 at 1, 3, and 5 years, respectively, compared to 0.9978, 0.9981, and 0.9222 for the training set, respectively. The AUC values for DMFS at 1, 3, and 5-years for the training set were 0.8744, 0.8951, and 0.9358, respectively, compared to 0.9525, 0.9663, and 0.9625 for the test set, respectively. The combination of post-treatment levels of IL-6, GM-CSF, and LIF also had good predictive value for OS with an AUC value > 0.85 during follow-up.

Conclusion: IL-6, GM-CSF, and MIF baseline levels are powerful prognostic factors for non-metastatic NPC patients. The combination of these factors effectively predicts OS and DMFS in non-metastatic NPC patients.

Keywords: inflammatory factor; nasopharyngeal carcinoma; overall survival; prognostic value; radical radiotherapy.

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (82170552, 82103638, 81874132), National Natural Sciences Foundation of Hunan province (2022JJ40805), and the Research Foundation of Education Bureau of Hunan Province, China (19K101, 20K137, 21A0008).