Predictive potential of pan-immune-inflammation value / hemoglobin index as biomarker for osteoradionecrosis risk in locally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinomas

Abstract

Objective: We aimed to investigate whether the Pan-Immune-Inflammation-Value/Hemoglobin (PIV/Hb) index could predict the risk of osteoradionecrosis (ORN) in patients receiving concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) for locally advanced nasopharyngeal cancer (LA-NPC). Materials and methods: This retrospective analysis included LA-NPC patients who underwent CCRT and preCCRT oral exams at our institution's Departments of Radiation Oncology and Dentistry between January 2010 and December 2022. The relationship between ORN rates and PIV-Hb levels was explored using receiver operating characteristic curve analysis. The primary objective was to establish a correlation between pre-CCRT PIV-Hb levels and ORN rates, while the secondary objective was to identify other risk factors for ORN. Results: Of 249 eligible patients, 21 (8.4 %) were diagnosed with ORN. The optimal pre-CCRT PIV/Hb cutoff was 73.8, which divided patients into two subgroups with distinctive ORN risk estimates: Group 1: PIV/ Hb < 73.8 (N = 206), and Group 2: PIV/Hb >= 73.8 (N = 43). The results of the comparative analysis indicated that the cohort with PIV/Hb >= 73.8 exhibited substantially higher rates of ORN than the PIV/Hb < 73.8 cohort (44.2 % vs. 1.0 %; P < 0.001). The multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated that the pretreatment PIV/ Hb >= 73.8 was independently associated with higher ORN rates (P < 0.001). Conclusion: The results of our current investigation indicate that higher levels of pretreatment PIV/Hb were associated with a significant independent increase in ORN rates in LA-NPC patients who received CCRT.