Clinical Significance of Mean Corpuscular Volume in Patients With Locally Advanced Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma.

BACKGROUND/AIM: To clarify the clinical significance of measuring the mean corpuscular volume (MCV) of red blood cells before applying neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) in patients with locally advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) who will receive NAC followed by curative resection.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

We retrospectively investigated 169 eligible patients at the Kanagawa Cancer Center between 2011-2018. The patients were divided into high and low-MCV groups. The cutoff value of the MCV was determined by the maximum χ statistic value on the log-rank test and was set at 92.8 fl. Clinicopathological features and outcomes were compared between the two groups.

RESULTS

There was no significant association between the MCV and clinicopathological features. Both five-year recurrence-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) in the high-MCV group were significantly poorer than those in the low-MCV group (RFS, p=0.026; OS, p=0.006). On multivariate analysis, a high-MCV was an independent predictive survival factor for RFS [hazard ratio (HR)=1.728; 95% confidence interval (CI)=1.033-2.891; p=0.037] and OS (HR=1.836; 95%CI=1.002-3.365; p=0.049).

CONCLUSION

Measurement of the MCV before NAC may be a useful prognostic biomarker in patients with locally advanced ESCC who will receive NAC followed by curative resection.