TURKISH JOURNAL OF ONCOLOGY 2024 , Vol 39 , Num 1
Laboratory Parameters Predicting Brain Metastasis in Patients with Lung Cancer
Fuzuli TUĞRUL1,İsmail BEYPINAR2,Anıl UÇAN3
1Department of Radiation Oncology, Eskişehir City Hospital, Eskişehir-Türkiye
2Department of Medical Oncology, Alaattin Keykubat University Hospital, Antalya-Türkiye
3Department of Internal Medicine, Eskişehir City Hospital, Eskişehir-Türkiye
DOI : 10.5505/tjo.2023.3943 OBJECTIVE
Lung cancer (LC) is the leading cause of cancer death worldwide. Multiple studies have shown tumor progression and prognosis to be associated with immune status and nutritional condition. Alterations in blood lipid levels have been demonstrated to be a risk factor for LC. In the present study, we evaluate the effect of blood parameters on brain metastasis in LC.

METHODS
Patients identified with brain metastases during diagnosis or therapy and who subsequently underwent radiation therapy were included in the study. Patient characteristics, laboratory parameters, pathologic subtype, disease stage, treatment modalities, and outcome following treatment were recorded, and the patients" PFS and OS were calculated.

RESULTS
Univariate analysis revealed neutrophil, low-density lipoprotein (LDL), neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), and C-reactive protein levels to be significantly different between groups according to brain metastases. In a subgroup analysis based on cancer subtypes, LDL and lymphocyte levels were found to be significantly different in squamous cancer, while LDL was different in the undifferentiated subtype. OS was different in the NLR low and high groups, favoring the NLR low group (p=0.015; OS: 12 vs. 9 months), and the monocyte/lymphocyte ratio was significant in terms of OS favoring the low group with a cutoff value of 0.56 (p=0.002; OS: 13 vs. 9 months).

CONCLUSION
Our study identified differences in the inflammatory and lipid profiles of LC patients in terms of brain metastases and survival. Other than the literature, LDL levels were different among groups and may be considered a valid subject for future study. Keywords : Brain metastasis; laboratory parameters; lipid profile; lung cancer