Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) as prognostic biomarkers in unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) treated with atezolizumab plus bevacizumab (atezo-bev).

Authors

null

Linda Wu

Tisch Cancer Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY;

Linda Wu , Claudia A.M. Fulgenzi , Antonio D'Alessio , Hong Jae Chon , Masatoshi Kudo , Martin Schönlein , Johann von Felden , Brooke Wietharn , Samuel Phen , Bernhard Scheiner , Lorenz Balcar , Yi-Hsiang Huang , Tiziana Pressiani , Gianluca Masi , Abdul Rafeh Naqash , Dominik Bettinger , Arndt Vogel , Peter R Galle , Vince Gaillard , Celina Ang

Organizations

Tisch Cancer Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY; , Department of Surgery and Cancer, Imperial College London, Hammersmith Hospital, London, United Kingdom; , Imperial College, London, United Kingdom; , Department of Medical Oncology, CHA Bundang Medical Center, CHA University School of Medicine, Seongnam, South Korea; , Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Kindai University Faculty of Medicine, Osaka, Japan; , Department of Internal Medicine II, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany, Hamburg, Germany; , I. Department of Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany; , University of Kansas School of Medicine, Kansas City, KS; , Department of Internal Medicine, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX; , Divison of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Internal Medicine III, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria; , Division of Gastroenterology & Hepatology, Department of Internal Medicine III, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria; , Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Bei Tou Qu, Taiwan; , Humanitas Cancer Center, Istituto Clinico Humanitas, Rozzano, Italy; , University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy; , Stephenson Cancer Center, University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma City, OK; , Department of Medicine II (Gastroenterology, Hepatology, Endocrinology and Infectious Diseases), Freiburg University Medical Center, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany; , Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany; , University Medical Center Mainz, Mainz, Germany; , Roche, Basel, Switzerland;

Research Funding

No funding received
None.

Background: Although Atezo-Bev is the standard of care front line therapy for patients with unresectable HCC, a clinically relevant proportion of patients do not respond, underscoring the need to identify patients most likely to benefit from this therapy. Systemic inflammation is a key risk factor for HCC tumorigenesis and progression and has been associated with poor clinical outcomes. We aimed to evaluate the prognostic value of the inflammatory markers, NLR and PLR, in patients with HCC treated with Atezo-Bev. These markers also have the advantage of being readily available in routine practice and inexpensive. Methods: The association of NLR and PLR with overall survival (OS) was analyzed using a retrospective database of patients with unresectable HCC treated with Atezo-Bev at 14 institutions across the United States, Europe, and Asia from 2019 to 2022. The effect of NLR and PLR on progression-free survival (PFS), objective response rate (ORR), and disease control rate (DCR) was also assessed. Outcomes of patients with NLR ≥ 5 vs. NLR < 5 and PLR ≥ 300 vs. PLR < 300 were compared. Univariable and multivariable logistic regression models were used to evaluate associations, and survival analyses were performed using the Kaplan-Meier method. Results: The cohort consisted of 296 patients, with a median age of 66 years. The majority of the patients were male (83%), cirrhotic (75%), and had a viral etiology of HCC (66%). All included patients had Child Pugh class A liver disease and good performance status with ECOG score either 0 (47%) or 1 (53%). After a median follow-up of 9.93 months, patients with NLR ≥ 5 had a shorter OS compared to patients with NLR < 5 in univariate analysis (hazard ratio [HR] 2.71, 95% CI 1.71-4.27, P< 0.001), and in multivariate analysis, NLR ≥ 5 remained an independent prognosticator of worse OS (HR 2.01, 95% CI 1.22-3.56, P = 0.007). PLR ≥ 300, compared to PLR < 300, was also associated with shorter OS (HR 2.24, 95% CI 1.71-4.27, P = 0.007) in univariate analysis but not in multivariate analysis (HR 1.01, 95% CI 0.52-1.96, P = 0.99). Both NLR ≥ 5 and PLR ≥ 300 were correlated with shorter PFS on univariate analysis (HR 1.54, 95% CI 1.05-2.25, P = 0.03; HR 1.72, 95% CI 1.04-2.83, P = 0.04; respectively) but not in multivariate analysis (HR 1.31, 95% CI 0.84-2.04, P = 0.24; HR 1.18, 95% CI 0.65-2.13, P = 0.59; respectively). NLR ≥ 5 and NLR < 5 did not differ in ORR (24% vs. 32%, P = 0.39) or DCR (71% vs. 79%, P = 0.24). No differences were observed between patients with PLR ≥ 300 vs. patients with PLR < 300 in ORR (33% vs. 30%, P = 0.81) or DCR (62% vs. 70%, P = 0.09). Conclusions: NLR ≥ 5 was an independent prognosticator of worse OS in patients with unresectable HCC treated with Atezo-Bev and is a prognostic marker worthy of further study and validation.

Disclaimer

This material on this page is ©2024 American Society of Clinical Oncology, all rights reserved. Licensing available upon request. For more information, please contact licensing@asco.org

Abstract Details

Meeting

2023 ASCO Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium

Session Type

Poster Session

Session Title

Poster Session B: Cancers of the Pancreas, Small Bowel, and Hepatobiliary Tract

Track

Pancreatic Cancer,Hepatobiliary Cancer,Neuroendocrine/Carcinoid,Small Bowel Cancer

Sub Track

Patient-Reported Outcomes and Real-World Evidence

Citation

J Clin Oncol 41, 2023 (suppl 4; abstr 504)

DOI

10.1200/JCO.2023.41.4_suppl.504

Abstract #

504

Poster Bd #

A14

Abstract Disclosures