The value of the combination of hemoglobin, albumin, lymphocyte and platelet in predicting platinum-based chemoradiotherapy response in male patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

OBJECTIVE: The predictive value of HALP in esophageal cancer is currently unclear. We aimed to evaluate the value of HALP in predicting platinum-based definitive chemoradiotherapy response in male patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

METHODS: Data from all newly diagnosed patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) were collected from January 1, 2010 to December 31, 2014 in Qilu Hospital. The treatment protocol was definitive chemoradiotherapy consisting of docetaxel plus cisplatin or carboplatin. The response assessment of the definitive chemoradiotherapy was based on computed tomography (CT) and barium meal test results.

RESULTS: A total of 39 patients were included in the present study. The median value of HALP was 48.34. The chemoradiotherapy response rate of patients in the low HALP value group was 35%, compared with 78.95% of patients in the high HALP group (P=0.010). Additionally, the median progression-free survival in the 2 patient groups was significantly different (10.7 vs. 24.7m, P=0.041). In the multivariate analysis, patients with HALP higher than 48.34 had longer progression-free survival than patients with HALP of 48.34 or less (HR 2.745; 95% CI, 1.176-6.408; P=0.020). However, there was no significant difference for overall survival between the high HALP group and low HALP group.

CONCLUSION: Our data suggested that pretreatment HALP could predict the platinum-based chemoradiotherapy response of tumors and progression free survival in male patients with ESCC. Therefore, HALP could be used in routine clinical practice to guide the therapeutic strategies for individual treatment in patients with ESCC.