Inflammation‐based prognostic scoring system for predicting the prognosis of advanced small cell lung cancer patients receiving anlotinib monotherapy

BACKGROUND: According to the randomized multicenter phase II trial (ALTER1202), anlotinib has been approved as a third‐line therapy for advanced small‐cell lung cancer (SCLC). Some studies showed the predictive function of inflammatory markers, including neutrophil‐to‐lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet‐to‐lymphocyte ratio (PLR), and lymphocyte‐to‐monocyte ratio (LMR) in the different cancers treated with anti‐vascular targeting drugs. However, none of the studies showed the roles of NLR, PLR, and LMR in SCLC patients receiving anlotinib. Thus, our objective was to establish a scoring system based on inflammation to individuate patient stratification and selection based on NLR, PLR, and LMR. METHODS: NLR, PLR, and LMR and their variations were calculated in 53 advanced SCLC patients receiving anlotinib as a third‐ or further‐line treatment at Ningbo Medical Center Lihuili Hospital between January 2019 and December 2021. Kaplan–Meier curves were plotted. Both univariate and multivariate Cox regressions were used to identify predictors of survival. RESULTS: Disease control rate was related to pre‐NLR, pre‐PLR, pre‐LMR, post‐NLR elevation, post‐PLR elevation, and post‐LMR elevation. The multivariate analysis determined post‐NLR elevation, pre‐PLR > 240.56, and pre‐LMR ≤1.61 to be independently associated with progression‐free survival, not overall survival. The inflammation‐based prognostic scoring system demonstrated favorable predictive ability from the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC: 0.791, 95% CI: 0.645–0.938). CONCLUSIONS: Post‐NLR variation, pre‐PLR, and pre‐LMR were independent prognostic factors for PFS in advanced SCLC receiving anlotinib monotherapy. The inflammation‐based prognostic scoring system can accurately predict effectiveness and survival.