Could ratio of hemoglobin to red cell distribution width and ratio of absolute lymphocyte count to absolute monocyte count be a prognostic tool in newly diagnosed multiple myeloma patients?

Abstract

Introduction

Hemoglobin/red cell distribution width (RDW) ratio (HRR) and lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio (LMR) are two novel bio-markers associated with overall survival (OS) and prognosis in several types of cancers. The aim of this study is to investigate the value of HRR and LMR in newly diagnosed multiple myeloma (MM) patients.

Methods

A total of 180 patients were included in this study. Patients diagnosed with MM between May 2013 and May 2019 at a single center were evaluated. HRR was calculated by dividing hemoglobin to RDW, both measured from the same sample. LMR was calculated by dividing absolute lymphocyte count (ALC) to absolute monocyte count (AMC).

Results

The cutoff value for HRR was taken as 0.61, and the cutoff value for LMR was taken as 3.28. Patients were divided into low HRR, high HRR, low LMR, and high LMR groups. OS of the patients with low HRR was found lower compared with high HRR (36.7 months for low HRR and 53.2 months for high HRR, < 0.001). Also, OS was found lower in the low LMR group (39.4 months for low LMR and 51.7 months for high LMR, = 0.016). On multivariate analysis, low HRR and low LMR were predictive factors of OS (hazard ratio (HR) 2.08, 95% confidence intervals (CI) 1.31–3.03, and = 0.002 for low HRR; HR 1.47, 95% CI 0.92–2.29, and = 0.010 for low LMR).

Conclusion

Combining both HRR and LMR could be a prognostic biomarker and it reflects the status of the immune system in newly diagnosed MM patients.