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Biological Rationale for Peripheral Blood Cell–Derived Inflammatory Indices and Related Prognostic Scores in Patients with Advanced Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer

  • Lung Cancer (H Borghaei, Section Editor)
  • Published:
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Abstract

Purpose of review

To describe the biological rationale of peripheral blood cells (PBC)–derived inflammatory indexes and assess the related prognostic scores for patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (aNSCLC) treated with immune-checkpoint inhibitors (ICI).

Recent findings

Inflammatory indexes based on PBC may indicate a pro-inflammatory condition affecting the immune response to cancer. The lung immune prognostic index (LIPI), consisting of derived neutrophils-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and lactate dehydrogenase, is a validated prognostic tool, especially for pretreated aNSCLC patients, where the combination of NLR and PD-L1 tumour expression might also be predictive of immunotherapy benefit. In untreated high-PD-L1 aNSCLC patients, the Lung-Immune-Prognostic score (LIPS), including NLR, ECOG PS and concomitant steroids, is prognostic, and its modified version might indicate patients with favourable outcomes despite an ECOG PS of 2. NLR times platelets (i.e., SII), included in the NHS-Lung score, might improve the prognostication for combined chemoimmunotherapy.

Summary

PBC-derived inflammatory indexes and related scores represent accurate, reproducible and non-expensive prognostic tools with clinical and research utility.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust, Portsmouth, UK

    Giuseppe Luigi Banna

  2. Department of Oncology, Clinique Générale Beaulieu, Geneva, Switzerland

    Alex Friedlaender

  3. Department of Oncology, University Hospital of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland

    Alex Friedlaender & Alfredo Addeo

  4. Department of Internal Medicine and Medical Specialties (Di.M.I.), University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy

    Marco Tagliamento & Sara Elena Rebuzzi

  5. Medical Oncology, IRCCS Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria di Bologna, 40138, Bologna, Italy

    Veronica Mollica

  6. Division of Cancer, Department of Surgery and Cancer, Imperial College London, Hammersmith Hospital, London, UK

    Alessio Cortellini

  7. Medical Oncology Unit, Ospedale San Paolo, Savona, Italy

    Sara Elena Rebuzzi

  8. Medical Oncology Department 1, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale Tumori, Milan, Italy

    Arsela Prelaj

  9. Department of Electronics, Information, and Bioengineering, Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy

    Arsela Prelaj

  10. Medical Oncology/TSET Phase 1 Program, Stephenson Cancer Center, University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma City, OK, USA

    Abdul Rafeh Naqash

  11. Medical Oncology, Hôpital Européen Georges Pompidou, AP-HP, Université Paris Cité, Paris, France

    Edouard Auclin

  12. Candiolo Cancer Institute, FPO-IRCCS, Candiolo, Turin, Italy

    Lucia Garetto

  13. Medical Oncology Department, Hospital Clinic of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

    Laura Mezquita

  14. Laboratory of Translational Genomics and Targeted Therapies in Solid Tumors, IDIBAPS, Barcelona, Spain

    Laura Mezquita

  15. Department of Medicine, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

    Laura Mezquita

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  1. Giuseppe Luigi Banna
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Contributions

Conceptualisation and methodology: G.L.B. A.A. L.M.; writing—original draft preparation: all authors; writing—review and editing and supervision: G.L.B., L.M. and A.A. All authors have made substantial contributions to this review, have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Giuseppe Luigi Banna.

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Conflict of Interest

G.L.B. reports personal fees from AstraZeneca, Astellas, travel and conference expenses from Janssen. A.F. reports personal fee from BMS, MSD, Astellas, Pfizer, Janssen, Roche, Boehringer Ingelheim, GSK, Bayer, outside the submitted work. M.T. reports personal fees from Novartis, Amgen, MSD, travel and conference expenses from Roche, BMS, Takeda, AstraZeneca, Eli Lilly. A.C. reports personal fees rom Roche, Astrazeneca, Novartis, MSD, BMS, EISAI, outside the submitted work. A.P. reports personal fees from Bristol Myers Squibb, AstraZeneca, Italfarma, grants from Roche, outside the submitted work. E.A. reports personal fees from Amgen, Sanofi, grants from Nuovo Soldati, outside the submitted work. L.M.: Research grant/Funding (self): Bristol Myers Squibb, Boehringer Ingelheim, Amgen, Stilla, Inivata; Advisory/Consultancy: Roche, Takeda; Honoraria (self): Bristol Myers Squibb, Takeda, Roche, AstraZeneca; Travel/Accommodation/Expenses: Bristol Myers Squibb, Takeda, Roche, AstraZeneca; Non-remunerated activity/ies: AstraZeneca. A.A. reports grants, personal fees and non-financial support from Bristol Myers Squibb, grants from Boehringer Ingelheim, Amgen, Stilla, Inivata, personal fees and non-financial support from Roche, Takeda, AstraZeneca, outside the submitted work. All the other authors report no disclosures.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Lung Cancer

Laura Mezquita and Alfredo Addeo equally contributed as last authors.

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Banna, G.L., Friedlaender, A., Tagliamento, M. et al. Biological Rationale for Peripheral Blood Cell–Derived Inflammatory Indices and Related Prognostic Scores in Patients with Advanced Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer. Curr Oncol Rep 24, 1851–1862 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11912-022-01335-8

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