The role of preoperative hematological inflammatory markers as a predictor of meningioma grade: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Inflammatory processes play an important role in the aggressiveness of a tumor. However, the relationship between inflammatory markers in meningioma grade is not well known. Knowledge of preoperative meningioma grade plays an important role in the prognosis and treatment of this tumor. This study aims to assess preoperative hematological inflammatory markers as a predictor of the pathological grade of meningioma.

METHODS: To ensure comprehensive retrieval of relevant studies, we searched the following key databases, PubMed, Science Direct, and Biomed Central, with evidence related to preoperative hematological inflammatory markers among meningioma up to September 2023. The studies involved were selected based on established eligibility criteria. The analysis in this study uses Review Manager 5.4.

RESULTS: Six studies were obtained from the search results. The total number of patients 2789 (469 high-grade meningioma and 2320 low-grade meningioma) analysis shows elevated neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) (mean difference [MD]: 0.29; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.13-0.45; P = 0.0004), monocyte-to-lymphocyte ratio (MLR) (MD: 0.02; 95% CI 0.00-0.04; P = 0.003), and low lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio (LMR) (MD: -0.82; 95% CI -1.46--0.18; P = 0.005) significantly associated with high-grade meningioma compared to low-grade meningioma. No significant correlation between high-grade and low-grade meningioma based on platelet-lymphocyte ratio value is observed.

CONCLUSION: The parameters of NLR, MLR, and LMR have been found to be cost-effective preoperative methods that demonstrate potential value in the prediction of meningioma grade. To enhance the reliability of the findings, it is imperative to do further prospective study.