Pretreatment C-reactive protein level predicts outcome and patterns of failure after chemoradiotherapy for locally advanced pancreatic cancer.

Objectives: In this study we evaluated the predictive value of pretreatment C-reactive protein (CRP) levels on patterns of failure and survival outcomes in patients with locally advanced pancreatic cancer (LAPC) who received chemoradiotherapy (CRT).

Methods: Data from 65 patients who underwent CRT for LAPC from July 2001 to May 2013 were retrospectively collected. Factors, including age, gender, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status (PS), histological confirmation, tumor size, tumor location, biliary drainage, stage, induction chemotherapy, CRP levels, neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, platelet-lymphocyte ratio, albumin and carbohydrate antigen 19-9, were evaluated with regard to overall survival (OS) and patterns of failure using a Cox proportional hazards model.

Results: The 1-year OS and median follow-up for all of the patients were 63.9% and 15.2 months, respectively. The median survival time and 1-year OS were 18.0 months and 72.5%, respectively, in the patients with lower CRP levels (≤3.0 mg/L), whereas 11.0 months and 30.8%, respectively, in the patients with higher CRP levels (>3.0 mg/L). Thirty-seven patients had tumor recurrence after CRT. All of the patients with higher CRP levels developed distant metastases as a primary sign of treatment failure. In a multivariate analysis, higher CRP levels were significantly correlated with distant disease-free survival (p = 0.004, HR = 4.50) and OS (p = 0.004, HR = 3.001). By contrast, local progression-free survival was not significantly different between the CRP subgroups.

Conclusion: The CRP levels were a significant predictor of survival and distant disease control for the LAPC patients who received CRT.