Prognostic importance of dynamic changes in systemic inflammatory markers for patients with gastric cancer.

PURPOSE To investigate the effect of dynamic changes in systemic inflammatory markers (SIM) on long-term prognosis of patients with gastric cancer (GC). METHODS A retrospective analysis was performed on the data of 2180 patients with GC who underwent radical gastrectomy in the Fujian medical university Union Hospital from January 2009 to December 2014. Changes in SIM between preoperatively and 1-6 months and 12 months postoperatively were reported. RESULTS In multivariate analysis, higher preoperative systemic inflammation score (pre-SIS) was independent predictor of poor prognosis (p < 0.05). The optimal time of remeasurement was 12 months postoperatively, based on a longitudinal profile of SIS and accuracy in predicting 5-year overall survival (OS) (area under the curve: 0.712 [95% confidence interval: 0.630-0.785]). According to the association between the conversion of SIS and OS, we classified patients into three risk groups. Kaplan-Meier curves showed significant differences in OS among risk groups. Further Cox multivariate regression analysis showed that only risk groups of SIS and pTNM stage were independent prognostic factors for OS. CONCLUSION The efficacy of SIS in predicting prognosis 12 months after surgery is superior, and the elevation of SIS 12 months after surgery predicts poor prognosis.