C-reactive protein (CRP) as a prognostic biomarker in patients with bladder cancer: A meta-analysis.

Authors

Yu Fujiwara

Yu Fujiwara

Department of Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Mount Sinai Beth Israel, New York, NY

Yu Fujiwara , Alexander B. Karol , Emma Reford , Himanshu Joshi , Deborah Blythe Doroshow , Matt D. Galsky

Organizations

Department of Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Mount Sinai Beth Israel, New York, NY, Department of Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Mount Sinai Hospital, New York, NY, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology, The Tisch Cancer Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, Tisch Cancer Institute, Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY

Research Funding

No funding received
None.

Background: CRP is an acute phase reactant synthesized by hepatocytes in response to inflammatory cytokines including interleukin-6. Peripheral blood CRP, a routinely measured analyte, may reflect tumor microenvironments skewed towards tumor-promoting inflammation. CRP may therefore represent an attractive biomarker to select patients with bladder cancer (BCa) more likely to benefit from therapies directed at modulating tumor-promoting inflammation. Methods: A systematic review was performed to identify studies reporting outcomes based on pre-treatment CRP values in patients with localized and advanced BCa and urothelial carcinoma (UC). The hazard ratio (HR) of overall survival (OS), cancer-specific survival (CSS), relapse-free survival (RFS), and progression-free survival (PFS) between groups with high and low CRP values as defined in each study was extracted. Meta-analysis using the random-effect model was performed to pool HR. Meta-regression analysis was conducted to assess the relationship between CRP cutoff and HR for OS. Subgroup analyses were performed according to clinical disease state and therapies administered. Heterogeneity was assessed using I2 statistics. Results: Overall, 938 articles were identified at initial screening; 22 studies comprising 2,899 patients were included in the meta-analysis. For OS, 17 datasets from 16 studies were used. High CRP levels were associated with decreased OS (HR=2.03, 95%CI:1.67-2.47, p<0.01) although high heterogeneity was observed (I2=91%). Subgroup analyses according to anticancer interventions showed that high CRP values were related to shorter OS, particularly in patients treated with immune checkpoint blockade (ICB; HR=1.78, 95%CI: 1.47-2.15, p<0.01). In meta-regression analysis, the correlation between CRP cutoff value and OS HR was not observed when all 16 studies were considered (Regression coefficient=0.03, 95%CI: -0.13-0.18, p=0.73). However, CRP cutoff value was significantly associated with the HR for OS (Regression coefficient=-0.21, 95%CI: -0.36 to -0.06, p=0.01) when the analysis was limited to eight studies assessing ICB in advanced BCa/UC. Pooled HR of CSS, RFS, and PFS is shown in Table. Conclusions: High CRP values were associated with poorer clinical outcomes in patients with BCa/UC, particularly among patients with advanced disease treated with ICB. CRP may represent an attractive biomarker to enrich populations more likely to benefit from therapies that modulate tumor-promoting inflammation.

Pooled HR (95% CI) of survival outcomes.

Entire cohortSubgroup
NMIBCMIBCAdvanced
TURBTRadical cystectomyChemotherapyICBVaried
OS2.03 (1.67-2.47)-1.75 (0.99-3.08)5.28 (0.92- 30.4)1.78 (1.47-2.15)2.23 (1.18-2.64)
CSS1.73 (1.18-2.54)-1.73 (1.18-2.54)---
RFS1.36 (1.02-1.81)1.64 (0.88-3.03)1.19 (0.82-1.72)---
PFS-3.44 (0.72-16.4)--1.59 (1.12-2.26)-

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 Annual Meeting

Session Type

Publication Only

Session Title

Publication Only: Genitourinary Cancer—Kidney and Bladder

Track

Genitourinary Cancer—Kidney and Bladder

Sub Track

Biologic Correlates

Citation

J Clin Oncol 41, 2023 (suppl 16; abstr e16502)

DOI

10.1200/JCO.2023.41.16_suppl.e16502

Abstract #

e16502

Abstract Disclosures

Similar Abstracts

First Author: Aitzaz Qaisar

Abstract

2023 ASCO Annual Meeting

C-reactive protein as a response biomarker to immune checkpoint blockade: A meta-analysis.

First Author: Alexander B Karol

First Author: Hans-Christian Kolberg