Researcher(s)
- Atif Bacchus, Biological Sciences, University of Delaware
Faculty Mentor(s)
- Jennifer Sims-Mourtada, Director of Translational Breast Cancer Research, ChristianaCare Helen F. Graham Cancer Center and Research Institute
Abstract
Background
The pan-immune-inflammatory value (PIV) has recently shown promise as a biomarker for predicting survival outcomes in breast cancer (BC) patients. The current study aims to evaluate the utility of PIV based on patient race and BC subtypes.
Methods
A retrospective review of laboratory and clinical data from 2,588 BC patients who were treated at ChristianaCare was conducted. The optimal cutoff value was set using a time-dependent receiver operating characteristic curve (cutoff = 525). Descriptive and inferential tests were used to compare high/low PIV groups based on race and BC subtype, and outcome associations were tested with Kaplan-Meier curves.
Results
High PIV (n = 701) was significantly associated with advanced BC (p < .0005, OR 1.684, 95% CI: 1.413-2.008). However, there was no association between high PIV and Hormonal Receptor (HR) subtypes, HR+ versus HR- (p = .268, OR .889, 95% Cl: .722-1.095). White women were more likely to have a high PIV compared to Black women (p < .0005, OR 1.547, 95% CI: 1.247-1.920), and this trend was particularly notable among triple negative BC (TNBC) patients, where White women had a significantly higher likelihood of high PIV compared to Black women (p < .0005, OR 3.141, 95% CI: 1.898-5.197). There was no significant difference in Disease Free Survival (DFS) between TNBC patients with high and low PIV (log rank p = .509), but among HR+ BC patients, those with high PIV had significantly worse DFS compared to those with low PIV (log rank p = .024).
Conclusion
PIV was associated with clinical outcomes in HR+ BC patients, supporting its role as a prognostic biomarker. However, further research is needed to explore the use of PIV as a prognostic biomarker in TNBC patients, which may include studying different environmental and epigenetic influences on the inflammatory response in this population.