Can we define any marker associated with brain failure in patients with locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer?

Abstract Purpose To define the factors which may be related to brain metastasis (BM) in patients with locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer (LA-NSCLC) who developed brain metastases after definitive treatment. Patients and methods A total of 208 patients with LA-NSCLC, without BM who received definitive radiotherapy (RT) or RT + chemotherapy (CT) between January 2005 and January 2016 were evaluated retrospectively. Platelet, neutrophil, lymphocyte counts, LDH, CRP, Hb levels, neutrophil-to-lymphocyte radio (NLR), platelet-to-lymphocyte radio (PLR), advanced lung cancer inflammation index (ALI) and FDG-PET/CT parameters (SUVmax of the primary tumor and mediastinal lymph nodes), and patient characteristics were evaluated for brain metastasis free survival (BMFS). Results Median follow-up duration was 25 months (range: 3–130 months). Cut-off values for platelet, NLR, PLR, LDH, CRP, and Hb were 290 × 103/μL, 2.6, 198, 468 IU/L, 2.5 mg/dL, and 11.5 g/dl. We defined each parameter as low or high according to the cut-off values. 56 patients (26.9%) developed brain metastases during follow-up. In univariate analysis, high NLR (P = 0.001), PLR (P = 0.037), LDH (P = 0.028), CRP (P = 0.002) values, value ≥ 7.5 for lymph nodes (P = 0.005) and low ALI value (P = 0.002) were poor prognostic factors for BMFS. In multivariate analysis, high NLR (P = 0.022), PLR (P = 0.017), CRP (P = 0.006), stage ≥ IIIB disease (P  Conclusions High NLR, PLR, LDH, CRP values, SUVmax values for lymph nodes, and low ALI which indicates high tumor burden were additional prognostic factors besides stage, histology, and lymph node status.