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The efficacy of albumin–globulin ratio to predict prognosis in cancer patients

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Abstract

The goal of this systematic review was to identify all of the research within the last 10 years that investigated both the Albumin–Globulin Ratio (AGR) and outcomes of solid tumor cancer patients via quantitative prognostic variables. Multiple scientific databases were researched for journal articles that included keywords relating AGR to prognosis. Once isolated from the databases, the articles were de-duplicated and manually screened based on standardized inclusion/exclusion criteria in a blind format via Rayyan. The collective data were sorted by cancer type, corrected for population size, and used to calculate the average cut-off values for the most popular prognostic variables. In total, 18 independent types of cancer have been evaluated to see if AGR is a prognostic indicator based on multivariate analyses. The average cut-off value for AGR in overall survival was 1.356, while the average cut-off value for AGR in progression free survival was 1.292. AGR was found to be significantly associated with at least one prognostic variable in every type of cancer evaluated based on multivariate analyses. The ease of access and affordability of AGR makes it an invaluable tool applicable to nearly all patients. Overall, AGR is a proven prognostic variable that should always be considered in the evaluation of a solid tumor cancer patient's prognosis. Further research needs to be conducted studying the potential prognostic effect in more types of solid tumors.

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Abbreviations

OS:

Overall survival

DFS:

Disease-free survival

DSS:

Disease-specific survival

PFS:

Progression-free survival

ACM:

All-cause mortality

RFS:

Recurrence-free survival

CSS:

Cancer-specific survival

TSS:

Tumor-specific survival

R:

Recurrence

M:

Metastasis

DM:

Distant metastasis

DMFS:

Distant metastasis free survival

TR:

Tumor recurrence

SP:

Stage progression

CSM:

Cancer-specific mortality

ACCRM:

All-cause cancer related mortality

SPOC:

Serious postoperative complications

RLNI:

Retroperitoneal lymph node involvement

CRC:

Colorectal cancer

BUC:

Bladder urothelial cancer

SCLC:

Small cell lung cancer

NSCLC:

Non-small cell lung cancer

UTUC:

Upper tract urothelial carcinoma

RCC:

Renal cell carcinoma

DLBCL:

Diffuse large B cell lymphoma

NKTL:

Natural killer T-cell lymphoma

BC:

Bladder cancer

Recur:

Recurrence

Metas:

Metastasis

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Acknowledgements

A university librarian was utilized to optimize the database search for this systematic review.

Funding

This study did not utilize any funding.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nova Southeastern University, Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine, 3400 Gulf to Bay Blvd, Clearwater, FL, 33759, USA

    Will S. Roberts, William Delladio, Shawn Price, Alec Murawski & Hoang Nguyen

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  1. Will S. Roberts
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  2. William Delladio
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  3. Shawn Price
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  4. Alec Murawski
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  5. Hoang Nguyen
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Correspondence to Will S. Roberts.

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Roberts, W.S., Delladio, W., Price, S. et al. The efficacy of albumin–globulin ratio to predict prognosis in cancer patients. Int J Clin Oncol 28, 1101–1111 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10147-023-02380-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10147-023-02380-4

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