Browsing by Author "Jovanovic, Darko (57220890332)"

Background: The aim of this work was to evaluate the prognostic potential of preoperative thrombocytosis for recurrence-free survival (RFS) and cancer-specific survival (CSS) among patients subjected to radical nephroureterectomy (RNU) due to UTUC. Patients and Methods: Analytical cohort was composed of a single-center series of 405 patients treated between January 1999 and December 2020. Thrombocytosis was defined as a platelet count exceeding the threshold value of 400 × 109 per L. Along with the Kaplan–Meier survival probability, Cox proportional hazard regression models were used. Results: Preoperative thrombocytosis confirmed in 71 patients (17.5%) was significantly associated with the higher pathological tumor stage, lymph node metastasis, prior bladder cancer diagnosis, and preoperative anemia. With a median post-surgical follow-up period of 33.5 months, 125 patients (30.9%) experienced disease recurrence. The recurrence rate among patients with normal platelet levels was 13.6%, compared with 22.2% in those with preoperative thrombocytosis (p < 0.03). The 5-year RFS estimates reached 36.6% in the thrombocytosis-confirmed group. Multivariate analysis implied that preoperative thrombocytosis was a significant independent prognosticator of both poor RFS (HR 2.22, 95% CI 1.14–4.31, p = 0.02) and CSS (HR 2.48, 95% CI 1.14–3.09, p = 0.01). Conclusions: Patients with a clinically significant elevation of platelet count prior to RNU were more likely to have UTUC with advanced tumor stages and lymph node metastases. Preoperative thrombocytosis was an independent predictor of RFS and CSS in patients who underwent radical nephroureterectomy. Furthermore, preoperative thrombocytosis may complement and refine UTUC clinical prediction algorithms as an independent indicator of adverse survival outcomes. © Society of Surgical Oncology 2024.

Background: Effective biliary tree decompression plays a central role in the palliation of malignant biliary obstruction (MBO). When endoscopic drainage is unfeasible or unsuccessful, percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage (PTBD) is the method of choice and preferred treatment approach in advanced hilar MBO. The prognostic nutritional index (PNI) reflects the patient’s immunonutritional status, while the neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) reflects the patient’s inflammation status. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the prognostic value of preprocedural PNI and NLR on short-term survival in the advanced stage MBO population threatened with PTBD and to characterize the differences in immunonutritional and inflammatory status between 60-day survivors and non-survivors, as well as analyze other variables influencing short-term survival. Methods: This single-center retrospective study was conducted on patients undergoing palliative PTBD caused by MBO as a definitive therapeutic treatment between March 2020 and February 2022. After the procedure, patients were followed until the end of August 2022. Results: A total of 136 patients with malignant biliary obstruction were included in the study. Based on receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis, optimal cut off-values for NLR (3) and PNI (36.7) were determined. In univariate regression analysis, age, absolute neutrophil count, albumin level, NLR ≤ 3, and PNI ≥ 36.7 were significant predictors of 60-day survival. Level of obstruction and PNI ≥ 36.7 were statistically significant independent predictors of 60-day survival in a multivariate regression model. Using PNI ≥ 36.7 as a significant coefficient from the multivariate regression model with the addition of NLR ≤ 3 from univariate analysis, a 60-day survival score was developed. Conclusions: PNI and NLR are easy to calculate from routine blood analysis, which is regularly conducted for cancer patients. As such, they represent easily available, highly reproducible, and inexpensive tests capable of expressing the severity of systemic inflammatory responses in patients with cancer. Our study highlights that preprocedural PNI and NLR values provide predictors of short-term survival in patients with MBO treated with palliative PTBD. In addition, the proposed 60-day survival score can contribute to better selection of future candidates for PTBD and recognition of high-risk patients with expected poor outcomes. © 2022 by the authors.