C-reactive protein-to-lymphocyte ratio and hemoglobin-to-red cell distribution width ratio as effective prognostic predictors in pediatric patients with neuroblastoma.

Abstract

Inflammatory responses critically influence tumor progression, yet traditional inflammatory biomarkers in neuroblastoma (NB) research lack optimal sensitivity and specificity. This study aimed to evaluate the prognostic value of two pretreatment inflammatory biomarkers: the C-reactive protein-to-lymphocyte ratio (CLR) and hemoglobin-to-red cell distribution width ratio (HRR) in NB patients. A retrospective analysis was conducted on NB patients diagnosed and treated at Shanghai Children's Medical Center (2016-2022). Pretreatment blood parameters (within 1 week before therapy) were utilized to calculate CLR, HRR, and conventional biomarkers. Optimal cutoff values for each inflammatory biomarker were defined separately. Multivariate Cox regression models identified independent prognostic factors, while Kaplan-Meier curves with log-rank tests assessed survival differences. The cohort included 201 NB children (95 males, 106 females; median age, 37 months). CLR and HRR demonstrated clinically significant predictive accuracy (AUC > 0.7) over traditional biomarkers for both progression-free and overall survival. Elevated ferritin (hazard ratio = 0.35; 95% confidence interval, 0.14-0.90; P = 0.030) independently predicted poor short-term outcomes. For long-term survival, high CLR (hazard ratio = 0.20; 95% confidence interval, 0.05-0.86; P = 0.031) and low HRR (hazard ratio = 2.91; 95% confidence interval, 1.19-7.13; P = 0.019) were significant independent predictors. Kaplan-Meier survival curves demonstrated that high CLR and low HRR were associated with poor long-term outcomes in NB patients (P < 0.05). Intergroup comparisons indicated that the high-CLR and low-HRR groups were predominantly composed of high-risk M-stage patients (P < 0.05).

Conclusion: CLR and HRR outperform conventional inflammatory biomarkers as pretreatment prognostic indicators in NB. Elevated CLR and reduced HRR were strongly linked with advanced-stage grouping and adverse long-term outcomes and may serve as effective practical tools for enhancing clinical risk stratification in pediatric NB.

What is known: •Neuroblastoma is the most common extracranial solid malignancy in children, and inflammatory biomarkers can effectively predict its prognosis.

What is new: •CLR and HRR are cost-effective biomarkers that enhance risk stratification and correlate strongly with adverse long-term prognosis in NB.