Prognostic significance of pre-resection albumin/fibrinogen ratio in patients with non-small cell lung cancer: A propensity score matching analysis

Background: Nutrition and coagulation play important roles in cancer progression. This study was aimed to investigate the value of the albumin/fibrinogen ratio (AFR) in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients, through a propensity score matching (PSM) method. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 529 NSCLC patients underwent surgical resection from 2010 to 2015. PSM was used to eliminate possible biases. A Cox proportional hazards regression model was performed to evaluate the prognostic value of AFR in NSCLC. Results: The optimal value was 9.67 for the AFR by ROC (receiver operating characteristic) curve. The AFR was statistically significantly associated with age, sex, smoking history, histological subtype, tumor size, pathological stage and adjuvant therapy (p < 0.05). Multivariate analysis indicated that the pathological stage and pre resection AFR were independent prognostic factors for patients with NSCLC. Additionally, elevated AFR indicated a better outcome, and patients with higher AFR had lower risk for overall death (OS) (HR 0.512, 95% CI 0.316-0.829, p = 0.006) as well as disease-free death (DFS) (HR 0.561, 95% CI 0.399-0.787, p = 0.001). The propensity score model identified 120 patients from each group that were balanced for age, sex, smoking history, histological subtype, tumor size, stage distribution and adjuvant therapy. In multivariable regression analysis of PSM groups, the result indicated that the AFR was predictive for OS (HR 0.392, 95% CI 0.225-0.683, p < 0.001) and DFS (HR 0.526, 95% CI 0.344-0.805, p = 0.003). Conclusions: Pre-resection AFR can be considered as an independent prognostic factor in NSCLC patients, and higher AFR may enhance OS and DFS of NSCLC patients.