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INTRODUCTION: Biliary tract cancers (BTC) include both gallbladder cancer and cholangiocarcinoma, both of which have a poor prognosis. The aim of our study was to evaluate the main clinical prognostic factors in this setting and to assess their impact on overall survival (OS). METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed data collected on 64 patients with BTC who underwent surgery with radical intent at our institution. OS was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method. The Cox regression model was used to perform univariate and multivariate analyses. RESULTS: Preoperative hyponatremia was found to be an independent prognostic factor that correlated negatively with prognosis, with hyponatremic patients having a poor OS compared to the group of patients with normal serum sodium levels (9.44 vs. 15.47 months; p = 0.0215). In addition, high preoperative values for carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (Ca19.9), a tumor marker for some gastrointestinal cancers, and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) were found to be prognostic factors for a significant reduction in OS (Ca19-9: 7.14 vs. 24.22 months, p = 0.0088; LDH: 1.70 vs. 15.47 months, p = 0.0384). CONCLUSION: Identification of these prognostic factors may support strategies to identify, in clinical practice, those subgroups of patients with a favorable or unfavorable prognosis before surgical treatment and, therefore, to guide therapeutic choices. In particular, to our knowledge, this is the first report of the prognostic role of serum sodium level in BTC. Early detection and careful monitoring of hyponatremia and supportive therapy can help to improve the treatment and prognosis of BTC.
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BACKGROUND: Chemotherapy is the mainstay treatment for advanced biliary cancer (ABC). Best supportive care and clinical trials are currently alternative options. The identification of a prognostic score that can be widely applied to daily practice has the potential to better inform clinical management of ABC patients. METHODS: A cohort of 123 ABC patients undergoing first-line chemotherapy was used as an exploratory cohort to define the prognostic value of laboratory tests routinely performed in clinical practice. Kaplan-Meier analysis was used to investigate the association between the variables and overall survival (OS). Those variables that were statistically significant at the multivariate analysis were combined in a multiplex score. Performance of the novel prognostic score was confirmed in a validation cohort of 60 ABC patients. RESULTS: Baseline actual neutrophil count, lymphocytes-monocytes ratio, neutrophil-lymphocytes ratio and albumin (A.L.A.N.) correlated with OS at the multivariate analysis in the exploratory cohort. When combined in the multiplex, A.L.A.N. score was able to identify three classes of ABC patients with significantly different OS (high-risk: median OS, 5 months; intermediate-risk: median OS, 12 months and low-risk: median OS, 22 months; p:<0.001). The score performed well in the different subtypes of ABC and was independent of stage, performance status and chemotherapy regimen. The performance of the A.L.A.N. score was confirmed in a validation cohort of cholangiocarcinoma patients (high-risk: median OS, 4.3 months; intermediate-risk: median OS 9.3 months, low-risk: median OS 13 months; p:0.005). CONCLUSIONS: The A.L.A.N score can be derived by variables routinely recorded in clinical practice and can provide prognostic assessment of ABC patients considered for first-line treatment.