The added value of fasting blood glucose to serum squamous cell carcinoma antigen for predicting oncological outcomes in cervical cancer patients receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by radical hysterectomy

Objective To determine the combination of fasting blood glucose (FBG) with squamous cell carcinoma antigen (SCCA) assessments in the prediction of tumor responses to chemotherapy and pretreatment prognostication among patients receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) for locally advanced cervical cancer (LACC). Methods Data of 347 LACC patients were retrospectively reviewed. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were constructed, and areas under the curves (AUCs) were compared to evaluate the ability to predict complete response (CR) following NACT. Patients were stratified into groups with low and high levels of SCCA and FBG and combined into low‐ or high‐SCCA and low‐ or high‐FBG groups. Cox regression analysis was performed to identify determinants of recurrence‐free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS). Results The AUCs were 0.70, 0.68, and 0.66 for SCCA, FBG, and a combination of SCCA and FBG for predicting CR following NACT, respectively; however, the differences among AUCs were not significant (P = .496). Pretreatment SCCA and FBG levels were identified as independent predictors of RFS and OS. The high‐SCCA/high‐FBG group showed significantly worse prognosis than the low‐SCCA/low‐FBG group. After adjusting for other variables, high‐SCCA/high‐FBG remained independently associated with an increased risk of tumor recurrence and death. Conclusion SCCA, FBG, and a combination of SCCA and FBG could acceptably predict CR following NACT. Pretreatment SCCA and FBG levels were independent prognostic factors. The combination of SCCA and FBG levels refined the prognostic stratification of LACC patients, which allowed the group of patients with the highest risk of recurrence and death to be identified. SCCA, FBG and a combination of SCCA and FBG showed acceptable capacity to predict CR following NACT for cervical cancer patients with locally advanced disease. FBG did not have complementary capability to SCCA in the prediction of CR following NACT. Pretreatment levels of SCCA and FBG were independently associated with the prognosis of cervical cancer patients who received NACT for locally advanced disease. FBG reinforces the prognostic ability of SCCA, and a combination of SCCA and FBG could identify a group of patients with the highest risk of recurrence and death.