Background/aim: The systemic immune-inflammation index (SII) is a calculated biomarker developed to predict the prognosis of malignant tumors. This study evaluated the influence of the SII in patients with esophageal cancer (EC) who underwent curative resection.
Patients and methods: Patients who underwent radical esophagectomy and lymph node dissection for EC were enrolled. The SII was calculated as follows: neutrophil count (cell/mm3) × platelet count (cell/mm3 ×103)/lymphocyte count (cell/mm3). The SII, patient characteristics, overall survival (OS), and recurrence-free survival (RFS) were assessed.
Results: A total of 180 patients were included in this study. The cutoff value of the SII was set at 500 according to previous studies. Of the 180 patients, 100 were classified into the SII-high group and 80 into the SII-low group. The 3- and 5-year OS rates were 59.0% and 54.0%, respectively, in the SII-high group and 80.0% and 75.0%, respectively, in the SII-low group, showing significant differences between the groups (p=0.001). A multivariate analysis for the OS demonstrated that the SII was an independent prognostic factor (hazard ratio=2.333, 95% confidence interval=1.411-3.860, p<0.001), with similar results obtained for the RFS. Furthermore, hematological recurrence was significantly higher in the SII-high group than in the SII-low group (36.0% vs. 17.5%, p=0.006).
Conclusion: The preoperative SII was an independent prognostic factor for OS and RFS in patients with EC who underwent curative resection. Thus, the SII can be a useful marker for the treatment and management of EC.
Keywords: Systemic Immune-inflammation Index (SII); esophageal cancer; overall survival; prognostic biomarker; recurrence-free survival.
Copyright © 2024 International Institute of Anticancer Research (Dr. George J. Delinasios), All rights reserved.