Correlations Between Hemoglobin To Red Blood Cell Distribution Width Ratio And Prognosis In Patients With Small Cell Lung Cancer

BackgroundThis study aimed to investigate the prognostic value of baseline hemoglobin-to-red blood cell distribution width ratio(HRR)in patients with small cell lung cancer(SCLC).MethodsWe retrospectively analyzed the medical records of patients with newly diagnosed SCLC who had received first-line chemotherapy at the Department of Pulmonary Oncology of the PLA 307 Hospital between January 2008 and October 2018.The optimal cut-off value of the continuous variables was determined using the X-tile software.Univariate and multivariate analyses were conducted using Cox proportional hazard models.The Kaplan–Meier method was used for survival analysis,with differences tested using the log-rank test.ResultsA total of 146 patients were included.The cut-off value for HRR was determined as 0.985.Statistically significant differences were observed in sex,smoking history,stage,radiotherapy combination,neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio,platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio,hemoglobin,and red blood cell distribution width between the high and low HRR groups.The median overall survival(OS)was 9 and 17.5 months in the low and high HRR groups,respectively(P <0.001).The median progression-free survival(PFS)was 5 and 8.5 months,respectively(P <0.001).Univariate and multivariate analyses showed low HRR to be an independent predictor of a poor prognosis for OS(hazard ratio = 3.782;95% confidence interval,2.151-6.652;P <0.001)and PFS(hazard ratio = 2.112;95% confidence interval,1.195-3.733;P = 0.01)in SCLC.ConclusionLow baseline HRR was associated with poorer OS and PFS in patients with SCLC and can be a potentially valuable prognostic factor for these patients.