Background: The ratio of C-reactive protein to albumin (CRP/Alb) is a biochemical marker of systemic inflammatory response and has been associated with poor survival in cancer. This study retrospectively investigated the relationship between the CRP/Alb ratio and prognosis in gastric cancer patients.
Methods: This study enrolled 453 patients with a histopathological diagnosis of gastric adenocarcinoma who underwent curative surgery.
Results: A statistically significant weak correlation was observed between CRP/Alb ratio and neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR) (r = 0.19; P < 0.0001). There were statistically significant correlations between high CRP/Alb ratio and age (P = 0.0004), tumor size (P = 0.02), depth of invasion (P = 0.012), and lymph node metastasis (P = 0.022). A high NLR was significantly correlated with age (P = 0.0027), tumor size (P = 0.0006), depth of invasion (P < 0.0001), lymphatic involvement (P = 0.0031), venous involvement (P = 0.0022), and stage of disease (P = 0.0024). Based on results by receiver operating characteristic analysis, patients were divided as follows: CRP/Alb ratio ≥ 0.0232 (CARHigh), CRP/Alb ratio < 0.0232 (CARLow), NLR ≥ 2.43 (NLRHigh), and NLR < 2.43 (NLRLow). Five-year survival rates of patients with both CARHigh and NLRHigh, either CARHigh or NLRHigh, and both CARLow and NLRLow were 59.6, 75.8, and 87.5%, respectively, with statistically significant differences (P < 0.0001). Multivariate analysis revealed that the combination of CRP/Alb ratio and NLR was an independent prognostic indicator.
Conclusions: The combination of CRP/Alb ratio and NLR may be useful in predicting prognosis in gastric cancer patients.