Pretreatment glycemic control status is an independent prognostic factor for cervical cancer patients receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy for locally advanced disease

BACKGROUND: To investigate whether poor glycemic control status has a negative impact on survival outcomes and tumor response to chemotherapy in patients receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) for locally advanced cervical cancer (LACC). METHODS: A retrospective cohort study was conducted to examine LACC patients undergoing NACT and radical hysterectomy between 2002 and 2011. Patients were divided into three groups: patients without diabetes mellitus (DM), diabetic patients with good glycemic control, and diabetic patients with poor glycemic control. Hemoglobin A(1c) (HbA(1c)) levels were used to indicate glycemic control status. Recurrence-free survival (RFS), cancer-specific survival (CSS) and overall survival (OS) were analyzed using log-rank tests and Cox proportional hazards models. RESULTS: In total, 388 patients were included and had a median follow-up time of 39 months (range: 4–67 months). Diabetes mellitus (DM) was diagnosed in 89 (22.9%) patients, only 35 (39.3%) of whom had good glycemic control prior to NACT (HbA(1c) < 7.0%). In survival analysis, compared with patients with good glycemic control and patients without DM, patients with poor glycemic control (HbA(1c) ≥ 7.0%) exhibited decreased recurrence-free survival (RFS), cancer-specific survival (CSS) and overall survival (OS). In multivariate analysis, HbA(1c) ≥ 7.0% was identified as an independent predictor for decreased RFS (hazard ratio [HR] = 3.33, P < 0.0001), CSS (HR = 3.60, P < 0.0001) and OS (HR = 4.35, P < 0.0001). In the subgroup of diabetic patients, HbA(1c) ≥ 7.0% prior to NACT had an independent negative effect on RFS (HR = 2.18, P = 0.044) and OS (HR = 2.29, P = 0.012). When examined as a continuous variable, the HbA(1c) level was independently associated with decreased RFS (HR = 1.39, P = 0.002), CSS (HR = 1.28, P = 0.021) and OS (HR = 1.27, P = 0.004). Both good (odds ratio [OR] = 0.06, P < 0.0001) and poor glycemic control (OR = 0.04, P < 0.0001) were independently associated with a decreased likelihood of complete response following NACT. CONCLUSIONS: Poor glycemic control is an independent predictor of survival and tumor response to chemotherapy for patients receiving NACT for LACC. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12885-017-3510-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.