Immature granulocytes as novel blood-based biomarkers for brain tumours: A prospective case-control study

IF 1.6 4区医学 Q3 CLINICAL NEUROLOGY

Clinical Neurology and Neurosurgery Pub Date : 2025-09-28 DOI:10.1016/j.clineuro.2025.109176

Vedat Acik , Mehmet Özer , Selcuk Matyar , Ali Harmanoğullarından , Ahmet Hamit Çınkı , Zeki Boğa , Ümit Kara , Ali Arslan , Mustafa Emre Saraç , Semih Kıvanç Olguner , Yurdal Gezercan

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Abstract

Introduction

Chronic inflammation within the tumour microenvironment has been recognised as a key factor in the initiation and progression of tumours. Brain tumours significantly affect patient survival and quality of life. Identifying an accessible biomarker for diagnosing and monitoring brain tumours could support earlier detection and intervention.

Materials and methods

This single-centre prospective observational study included 334 patients with histopathologically confirmed intracranial tumours and 299 age- and sex-matched controls with normal brain magnetic resonance imaging findings. Blood samples were evaluated for levels of procalcitonin, C-reactive protein (CRP), plateletcrit (PCT), platelet distribution width (PDW), neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), red cell distribution width (RDW), mean platelet volume (MPV) and both the absolute count and percentage of immature granulocytes (IGs). The diagnostic accuracy, sensitivity and specificity of these parameters in identifying intracranial tumours were statistically analysed.

Results

Procalcitonin, CRP, NLR, RDW and both the absolute count and percentage of IGs were significantly elevated in patients with brain tumours compared to the control group. In the ROC analysis, IG percentage demonstrated the highest AUC and specificity, whereas NLR showed the highest sensitivity. Procalcitonin, NLR, RDW and both IG count and percentage were significantly higher in Grade III-IV tumours than in grades I–II.

Conclusion

Readily available and cost-efficient inflammatory markers may support the detection and follow-up of brain tumours. In particular, immature granulocyte percentage and neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio demonstrated complementary diagnostic performance, favouring specificity and sensitivity, respectively. Integration of such blood-based indices with molecular classifiers could enhance risk stratification and guide personalised neuro-oncological management.

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未成熟粒细胞作为脑肿瘤的新型血液生物标志物：一项前瞻性病例对照研究

肿瘤微环境中的慢性炎症已被认为是肿瘤发生和发展的关键因素。脑肿瘤严重影响患者的生存和生活质量。确定一种可用于诊断和监测脑肿瘤的生物标志物可以支持早期发现和干预。材料和方法：这项单中心前瞻性观察研究包括334例经组织病理学证实的颅内肿瘤患者和299例年龄和性别匹配的正常脑磁共振成像对照组。评估血样中降钙素原、c反应蛋白（CRP）、血小板活性（PCT）、血小板分布宽度（PDW）、中性粒细胞与淋巴细胞比值（NLR）、红细胞分布宽度（RDW）、平均血小板体积（MPV）以及未成熟粒细胞（IGs）的绝对计数和百分比。统计分析这些参数对颅内肿瘤的诊断准确性、敏感性和特异性。结果：与对照组相比，脑肿瘤患者降钙素原、CRP、NLR、RDW及IGs绝对计数和百分比均显著升高。在ROC分析中，IG百分比显示最高的AUC和特异性，而NLR显示最高的敏感性。III-IV级肿瘤降钙素原、NLR、RDW及IG计数和百分比均显著高于I-II级肿瘤。结论：易得且经济有效的炎症标志物可支持脑肿瘤的检测和随访。特别是，未成熟粒细胞百分比和中性粒细胞与淋巴细胞的比例显示出互补的诊断性能，分别有利于特异性和敏感性。将这些基于血液的指标与分子分类器相结合，可以加强风险分层，指导个性化的神经肿瘤治疗。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Clinical Neurology and Neurosurgery 医学-临床神经学

CiteScore

3.70

自引率

5.30%

发文量

358

审稿时长

46 days

期刊介绍： Clinical Neurology and Neurosurgery is devoted to publishing papers and reports on the clinical aspects of neurology and neurosurgery. It is an international forum for papers of high scientific standard that are of interest to Neurologists and Neurosurgeons world-wide.