Prognostic significance of the mean corpuscular volume (MCV) and red cell distribution width (RDW) in obstructive colorectal cancer patients with a stent inserted as a bridge to curative surgery.

Abstract

The prognostic significance of the mean corpuscular volume (MCV) and red cell distribution width (RDW) in patients with malignancy have not been intensely investigated and are largely overlooked. We, therefore, investigated the clinical significance of MCV and RDW in non-metastatic obstructive colorectal cancer (OCRC) patients with a self-expandable metallic stent inserted as a bridge to curative surgery. Eighty-five pathological stage II and III OCRC patients were retrospectively evaluated. The associations of the preoperative MCV and RDW values with short- and long-term outcomes were examined. There were 50 males and 35 females, and the median age was 71years old. The median interval between stenting and surgery was 17days, and the median postoperative hospital stay was 16days. Fifty-six patients were in the MCV ≥ 87 group, and 47 were in the RDW ≥ 13.8 group. Multivariate analyses revealed the MCV ≥ 87 status to be independently associated with a poor relapse-free survival (hazard ratio [HR] = 4.70, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.52-14.58, P = 0.007). The RDW ≥ 13.8% was an independent predictor of postoperative infectious complications (HR = 7.28, 95% CI 1.24-42.70, P = 0.028). The MCV and RDW are simple but strong predictors of postoperative outcomes in OCRC patients.