Prognostic and clinicopathological significance of Systemic Immune-Inflammation Index in cancer patients receiving immune checkpoint inhibitors: a meta-analysis

Abstract

Background Among malignant neoplasm patients taking immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), it remains unknown how the systemic immune-inflammation index (SII) affects their clinical prognosis. We therefore performed the present meta-analysis by collecting the most recent data, so that SII’s prognostic value among ICI-receiving carcinoma patients could be fully clarified. Methods For the prognostic significance evaluation of SII in ICI-receiving carcinoma patients, the combined hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated. Results The number of studies enrolled in the present meta-analysis totaled 17, where 1,990 patients were involved. Among the ICI-treated carcinoma patients, a high SII was linked significantly to inferior overall survival (OS) (HR = 2.62, 95% CI = 1.76–3.90), as well as progression-free survival (PFS) (HR = 2.09, 95% CI = 1.48–2.95) (p both <.001). Contrastively, SII was linked insignificantly to the age (OR = 1.08, 95% CI = 0.39–2.98, p = .881), gender (OR = 1.01, 95% CI = 0.59–1.73, p = .959), lymph node (LN) metastasis (OR = 1.41, 95% CI = 0.92–2.17, p = .117), or metastatic site quantity (OR = 1.49, 95% CI = 0.90–2.46, p = .119). Conclusion There are prominent associations of elevated SII with the poor survival outcomes (both short- and long-terms) among the ICIreceiving carcinoma patients. SII has potential as a reliable and cheap prognostic biomarker in the clinic for carcinoma patients receiving ICIs.