The predictive value of the preoperative fibrinogen-albumin ratio on the postoperative prognosis of renal cell carcinoma

BACKGROUND: Urologists urgently need a simple, effective, accurate clinical biomarker to identify renal cell carcinoma (RCC) patients with poor prognosis and those with a high risk of recurrence as early as possible. Therefore, we investigated the prognostic value of the preoperative fibrinogen-albumin ratio (FAR) in patients with RCC. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed data from 279 cases of renal cancer admitted to the First Hospital of Peking University from 2010 to 2012. The best cutoff value of the FAR was obtained using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis, and patients were divided into high- and low-FAR groups. The correlation between the preoperative FAR and clinicopathological features was analyzed by χ(2) test. Log-rank test and Cox proportional hazard regression model were used to evaluate the predictive value of clinicopathological parameters for overall survival (OS). RESULTS: The best cutoff value for the FAR was 0.116. A FAR >0.116 was associated with higher Fuhrman grade (P<0.0001) and later pathological T stage (P<0.0001). Patients with a high FAR (>0.116) had worse OS [hazard ratio (HR) 10.497, 95% confidence interval (CI): 3.263–33.766, P<0.0001]. In multivariate analysis, the FAR was an independent risk factor for OS (HR 5.047, 95% CI: 2.109–12.076, P=0.003). Moreover, in Fuhrman grade I–II patients, the FAR could distinguish patients with worse prognosis (P<0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: The preoperative FAR is an independent prognostic factor of OS in renal cancer patients. A FAR >0.116 was significantly related to decreased survival in renal cancer patients.