Highly elevated systemic inflammation is a strong independent predictor of early mortality in advanced non-small cell lung cancer

Background Ample evidence support inflammation as a marker of outcome in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Here we explore the outcome for a subgroup of patients with advanced disease and substantially elevated systemic inflammatory activity. Methods The source cohort included consecutive patients diagnosed with NSCLC between January 2016 – May 2017 (n = 155). Patients with active infection were excluded. Blood parameters were examined individually, and cut-offs (ESR > 60 mm, CRP > 20 mg/L, WBC > 10 × 109, PLT > 400 × 109) were set to define the group of hyperinflamed patients. A score was developed by assigning one point for each parameter above cut-off (0–4 points). Results High systemic inflammation was associated with advanced stage and was seldom present in limited NSCLC. However, the one year survival of patients in stage IIIB-IV (n = 93) with an inflammation score of ≥2 was 0% compared to 33% and 50% among patients with a score of 1 and 0 respectively. The effect of a high inflammation score on overall survival remained significant in multi-variate analysis adjusted for confounding factors. The independent hazard ratio of an inflammation score ≥ 2 in multi-variate analysis (HR 3.43, CI 1.76–6.71) was comparable to a change in ECOG PS from 0 to 2 (HR 2.42, CI 1.13–5.18). Conclusion Our results show that high level systemic inflammation is a strong independent predictor of poor survival in advanced stage NSCLC. This observation may indicate a need to use hyperinflammation as an additional clinical parameter for stratification of patients in clinical studies and warrants further research on underlying mechanisms linked to tumor progression.