A nomogram based on inflammation and nutritional biomarkers for predicting the survival of breast cancer patients.

Background: We aim to develop a new prognostic model that incorporates inflammation, nutritional parameters and clinical-pathological features to predict overall survival (OS) and disease free survival (DFS) of breast cancer (BC) patients.

Methods: The study included clinicopathological and follow-up data from a total of 2857 BC patients between 2013 and 2021. Data were randomly divided into two cohorts: training (n=2001) and validation (n=856) cohorts. A nomogram was established based on the results of a multivariate Cox regression analysis from the training cohorts. The predictive accuracy and discriminative ability of the nomogram were evaluated by the concordance index (C-index) and calibration curve. Furthermore, decision curve analysis (DCA) was performed to assess the clinical value of the nomogram.

Results: A nomogram was developed for BC, incorporating lymphocyte, platelet count, hemoglobin levels, albumin-to-globulin ratio, prealbumin level and other key variables: subtype and TNM staging. In the prediction of OS and DFS, the concordance index (C-index) of the nomogram is statistically greater than the C-index values obtained using TNM staging alone. Moreover, the time-dependent AUC, exceeding the threshold of 0.7, demonstrated the nomogram's satisfactory discriminative performance over different periods. DCA revealed that the nomogram offered a greater overall net benefit than the TNM staging system.

Conclusion: The nomogram incorporating inflammation, nutritional and clinicopathological variables exhibited excellent discrimination. This nomogram is a promising instrument for predicting outcomes and defining personalized treatment strategies for patients with BC.