Albumin-to-alkaline phosphatase ratio: A novel prognostic index of overall survival in cholangiocarcinoma patients after surgery

AIM To clarify the prognostic significance of preoperative albumin-to-alkaline phosphatase ratio(AAPR) in cholangiocarcinoma(CCA) subjects receiving surgery.METHODS In this retrospective study, we included 303 CCA patients receiving surgery without preoperative therapy between 2002 and 2014. Clinicopathological characteristics(including AAPR) were analyzed to determine predictors of postoperative overall survival and recurrence-free survival(RFS). In addition,univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazards models were conducted,followed by application of time-dependent receiver operating curves to identify the optimal cut-off.RESULTS Univariate and multivariate analyses revealed both decreased overall survival[hazard ratio(HR): 2.88, 95%CI: 1.19-5.78] and recurrence-free survival(HR: 2.31,95%CI: 1.40–3.29) in patients with AAPR < 0.41 compared to those with AAPR ≥0.41. The optimal cut-off of AAPR was 0.41. Of the 303 subjects, 253(83.5%) had an AAPR over 0.41. The overall 1-, 3- and 5-year survival rates were 70.2%, 38.0% and 16.5%, respectively in the low(< 0.41) AAPR group, which were significantly lower than those in the high(≥ 0.41) AAPR group(81.7%, 53.9%, and 33.4%,respectively)(P < 0.0001). Large tumor size, multiple tumors, and advanced clinical stage were also identified as significant predictors of poor prognosis.CONCLUSION Our outcomes showed that AAPR was a potential valuable prognostic indicator in CCA patients undergoing surgery, which should be further confirmed by prospective studies. Moreover, it is necessary to investigate the mechanisms concerning the correlation of low AAPR with poor post-operative survival in CCA patients.

Pretreatment serum albumin-to-alkaline phosphatase ratio is an independent prognosticator of survival in patients with metastatic gastric cancer

BACKGROUND Previous studies have suggested that a low albumin-to-alkaline phosphatase ratio(AAPR)is associated with a lower survival rate in patients with various malignancies.However,the relationship between pretreatment AAPR and the prognosis of patients with gastric cancer(GC)remains unclear.AIM To investigate the prognostic value of AAPR in distant metastatic GC.METHODS A total of 191 patients with distant metastatic cancer from a single institute were enrolled in this study.Pretreatment clinical data,including serum albumin and alkaline phosphatase levels,were collected.A chi-square test or Fisher’s exact test was applied to evaluate the correlations between AAPR and various clinical parameters in GC patients.The Kaplan-Meier method and Cox proportional hazards regression model were used to evaluate the prognostic efficacy of AAPR in metastatic GC patients.A two-sided P value lower than 0.05 was considered statistically significant.RESULTS A receiver operating characteristic curve indicated that 0.48 was the optimal threshold value for AAPR.AAPR≤0.48 was significantly associated with bone(P<0.05)and liver metastasis(P<0.05).Patients with high levels of AAPR had better survival in terms of overall survival(OS)and progression-free survival(PFS),regardless of the presence of liver/bone metastasis.Pretreatment AAPR was found to be a favorable predictor of OS and PFS based on a multivariate cox regression model.AAPR-M system,constructed based on AAPR and number of metastatic sites,showed superior predictive ability relative to the number of metastatic sites for predicting survival.CONCLUSION Pretreatment AAPR may serve as an independent prognostic factor for predicting PFS and OS in patients with metastatic GC.Furthermore,AAPR may assist clinicians with individualizing treatment.