Prognostic role of pre‐treatment serum albumin in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma: A meta‐analysis and systematic review

Abstract

Background Pre‐treatment serum albumin (ALB) is a novel index that was identified in recent years and is considered to be closely related to the prognosis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). However, the association between ALB and NPC remains controversial. Objective of Review To assess the prognostic significance of pre‐treatment serum ALB in patients with NPC. Type of Review A systematic review and meta‐analysis. Search Strategy We searched PubMed, the Cochrane Library and the Web of Science for studies published up to August 2018. The keywords used were related to albumin, nasopharyngeal carcinoma and prognosis. Evaluation Method We extracted the following data from all included studies: author, publication year, country, cancer centre, time points of randomisation, sample size, mean or median age, gender, TNM stage of NPC, cut‐off value of pre‐treatment serum albumin, number of high‐grade cases and duration of follow‐up. Then, we generated the pooled hazard ratios (HR) for overall survival (OS) and distant metastasis‐free survival (DMFS) to perform this meta‐analysis. Results Ten studies comprising 7339 cases were included. Lower pre‐treatment serum ALB levels were significantly associated with worse OS (HR = 1.32, 95% CI 1.17‐1.48) and DMFS (HR = 1.40, 95% CI 1.08‐1.80). In general, our findings were further verified in the subgroup analyses based on three features, including cancer stage, cut‐off value and analysis type. Conclusion A decreased level of pre‐treatment serum albumin implies a poor prognosis and can be detected to define the risk stratification of NPC patients.

Development and validation of a prognostic nomogram for the pre-treatment prediction of early metachronous metastasis in endemic nasopharyngeal carcinoma: a big-data intelligence platform-based analysis

“…[50][51][52] Moreover, ALB is known as a common nutritional index marker and acts as a valuable prognostic indicator in NPC. 38,47 Our study confirmed that a decreased level of pre-treatment ALB implies a poor EM-DMFS in NPC. Furthermore, our results indicate that the female sex is a favorable prognostic factor for EM-DMFS in NPC, confirming previous studies.…”

A Nomogram Based on Serum Biomarkers and Clinical Characteristics to Predict Survival in Patients With Non-Metastatic Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma

“…Some studies indicated that decreased HGB is significantly related to poorer prognosis in patients with NPC ( 26 , 27 ). ALB is also an important indicator reflecting the patients’ nutritional status and has been used for prognostic assessment of patients with NPC ( 28 ). CRP, an acute-phase protein, increases quickly related to inflammation or infection ( 29 ).…”

Prognostic Value of Clinical Biochemistry-Based Indexes in Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma

“…Low level of PNI, AAPR, AGR, and ALB had been reported to be associated with poor survival in NPC, however, the combined analysis has not been reported (16,19,(23)(24)(25)(26). Moreover, the studies on the effect of serum biochemical indexes on toxicity with radiotherapy and the prognostic value of SIS, BUN, and CREA for NPC have not yet been reported.…”