Correlation between pre-treatment serum total blood bilirubin and unconjugated bilirubin and prognosis in patients with colorectal cancer

BACKGROUNDEpidemiological studies have found that unconjugated bilirubin (UCB) levels are positively correlated with the incidence of colorectal cancer (CRC). Therefore, bilirubin may also play an important role in the prognosis of CRC.AIMTo investigate the predictive value of total bilirubin (TBIL) and UCB in the prognosis of patients with CRC.METHODSA total of 142 CRC patients were selected as the research subjects in Jingxian Hospital, from October 2014 to May 2021. General and tumour-related clinical data at admission and the overall survival at 3 years after surgery were collected. The optimal cut-off values of TBIL and UCB were determined by receiver operating characteristic curve analysis. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression were used to analyse the effect of bilirubin level on the survival of CRC patients. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to assess the survival time. RESULTSThe 3-year overall survival rate of CRC patients was significantly higher in the high TBIL (> 13.45 mu mol/L) group than in the low TBIL (<= 13.45 mu mol/L) group (76.4% vs 37.1%; P < 0.05). The 3-year overall survival rate of CRC patients in the high UCB (> 10.75 mu mol/L) group was significantly higher than that in the low UCB (<= 10.75 mu mol/L) group (83.3% vs 34.2%; P < 0.05). Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that higher TBIL levels were an independent predictor of better prognosis in CRC patients (hazard ratio = 0.360, 95% confidence interval: 0.159-0.812, P = 0.014).CONCLUSIONTBIL levels can be used as a prognostic indicator for CRC patients.