Published online Nov 26, 2022. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v10.i33.12230
Peer-review started: August 23, 2022
First decision: October 17, 2022
Revised: October 19, 2022
Accepted: October 24, 2022
Article in press: October 24, 2022
Published online: November 26, 2022
Processing time: 92 Days and 6.7 Hours
The association between pretreatment serum ferritin concentration (SFC) and long-term survival in lung cancer remains unclear now.
Whether the pretreatment SFC could play a role in predicting long-term survival in lung cancer remains unclear.
To identify the prognostic value of pretreatment SFC in lung cancer patients based on current evidence.
The PubMed, EMBASE and Web of Science databases were searched from inception to May 29, 2022 for relevant studies. The primary endpoint was overall survival (OS) and the hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were combined to assess the predictive role of pretreatment SFC for long-term survival of lung cancer patients. All statistical analysis was conducted by STATA 15.0.
A total of 12 retrospective studies involving 1654 patients were included. The pooled results manifested that increased pretreatment SFC was significantly associated with worse OS (HR = 1.09, 95%CI: 1.03-1.15, P = 0.004). Subgroup analysis based on the country (China vs non-China) showed similar results. However, subgroup analysis stratified by tumor type revealed inconsistent results (lung cancer: HR = 1.39, P = 0.008; small cell lung cancer: HR = 1.99, P = 0.175; non-small cell lung cancer: HR = 1.03, P = 0.281).
Pretreatment SFC might serve as a promising prognostic indicator in lung cancer patients and elevated pretreatment SFC predicts worse prognosis.
The pretreatment SFC might contribute to the clinical management and treatment of lung cancer patients.