Value of brief hematological characteristics in differentiating carcinoembryonic-antigen-negative colorectal cancer from benign colorectal diseases

Table 1 Baseline characteristics between carcinoembryonic-antigen-negative colorectal cancer and benign colorectal diseases, n (%)

Characteristics	CEA-negative CRC	Benign colorectal diseases	P value
Number	74	79
Age (year), mean ± SD	59.39 ± 13.86	55.63 ± 12.13	0.076
Gender			0.409
Male	42 (56.76)	50 (63.29)
Female	32 (43.24)	29 (36.71)
Family history			0.066
Cancer	4 (5.41)	4 (5.06)
Others	1 (1.35)	8 (10.13)
Habit
Smokers	11 (14.86)	17 (21.52)	0.271
Drinkers	14 (18.92)	23 (29.11)	0.129
Chronic medical history			0.245
Hypertensives	13 (17.57)	17 (21.52)
Others	27 (36.49)	19 (24.05)
Positive FOBT	42 (56.76)	16 (20.25)	< 0.001
TNM stage
I + II	34 (45.95)
III + IV	40 (54.05)
Tumor invasion (T stage)
T1 + T2	12 (16.22)
T3 + T4	62 (83.78)
Lymph node metastasis (N stage)
N0	35 (47.30)
N1 + N2	39 (52.70)
Distant metastasis (M stage)
M0	64 (86.49)
M1	10 (13.51)

FOBT: Fecal occult blood test; CEA: Carcinoembryonic antigen; CRC: Colorectal cancer.

Table 2 Hematological characteristics between carcinoembryonic-antigen-negative colorectal cancer and benign colorectal diseases

Characteristics	CEA-negative CRC (n = 74)	Benign colorectal diseases (n = 79)	P value
WBC (× 109/L)	6.43 ± 2.07	6.99 ± 2.21	0.109
LYM (× 109/L)	1.52 ± 0.62	1.77 ± 0.82	0.033
RBC (× 1012/L)	4.45 ± 0.65	4.67 ± 0.56	0.029
HGB (g/L)	120.41 ± 22.55	137.91 ± 14.23	< 0.001
RDW (%)	14.00 (13.00, 15.00)	13.00 (12.00, 13.00)	< 0.001
PLT (× 109/L)	293.88 ± 104.06	244.51 ± 60.51	0.001
CEA (ng/mL)	2.08 (1.55, 2.90)	1.67 (1.16, 2.64)	0.031
HRR	8.61 ± 2.42	10.95 ± 1.55	< 0.001
LRR	0.11 ± 0.05	0.14 ± 0.07	< 0.001
PLR	194.56 (137.11, 252.46)	137.01 (106.11, 204.93)	0.001

Normally distributed data are expressed as mean ± SD; non-normally distributed data are expressed as median and interquartile spacing [M (Q1, Q3)]. WBC: White blood cells; LYM: Lymphocyte; RBC: Red blood cells; HGB: Hemoglobin; RDW: Red blood cell distribution width; PLT: Platelet; CEA: Carcinoembryonic antigen; HRR: Hemoglobin-to-red blood cell distribution width ratio; LRR: Lymphocyte-to-red blood cell distribution width ratio; PLR: Platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio.

Table 3 The receiver operating characteristic curve assay for hematological parameters

Indicators	AUC (95%CI)	P value	Cut-off value	Sensitivity (%)	Specificity (%)	Youden index
CEA (ng/mL)	0.601 (0.511-0.691)	0.031	1.54	77.03	44.30	0.21
HRR	0.796 (0.727-0.865)	< 0.001	9.42	58.11	86.08	0.44
LRR	0.660 (0.572-0.747)	0.001	0.13	70.27	65.82	0.36
PLR	0.653 (0.565-0.740)	0.001	150.20	72.97	59.49	0.32
HRR + CEA	0.799 (0.730-0.868)	< 0.001		62.16	86.08	0.48
HRR + PLR	0.808 (0.741-0.875)	< 0.001		82.43	68.35	0.51
LRR + CEA	0.673 (0.589-0.759)	< 0.001		68.92	63.29	0.32
PLR + CEA	0.655 (0.569-0.741)	< 0.001		75.68	50.63	0.26
HRR + PLR + LRR + CEA	0.807 (0.740-0.874)	< 0.001		85.14	64.56	0.50

CEA: Carcinoembryonic antigen; HRR: Hemoglobin-to-red blood cell distribution width ratio; LRR: Lymphocyte-to-red blood cell distribution width ratio; PLR: Platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio; AUC: Area under the receiver operating characteristic curve.