Ratio of C-Reactive Protein/Albumin is An Inflammatory Prognostic Score for Predicting Overall Survival of Patients with Small-cell Lung Cancer

Recent studies have indicated that the C-reactive protein/ albumin (CRP/Alb) ratio is associated with clinical outcomes in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We examined the prognostic value of this ratio in patients with small-cell lung cancer (SCLC). In this retrospective study, a total of 367 eligible SCLC patients were analyzed and the correlation between the pretreatment CRP/Alb ratio and overall survival (OS) was investigated. The optimal cutoff level of CRP/Alb ratio was at 0.441. A low and high CRP/Alb ratio was assigned to 65.1% and 34.9% of patients, respectively. The median OS of patients with a high CRP/Alb ratio was worse than those in the low group (13.70 vs 18.90 months HR, 1.34; p = 0.005). Disease stage (p < 0.001), performance status (PS) (p < 0.001) and pretreatment LDH (p < 0.001) were also significant predictors of OS. Multivariate analyses showed that the CRP/Alb ratio is an independent prognostic factor (p = 0.025). This study demonstrated that the CRP/Alb ratio could independently predict OS in patients with SCLC, and had comparable prognostic value to other known prognostic markers. Therefore, the CRP/Alb ratio could have prognostic value and be a measurable biomarker in patients with SCLC.