Prognostic value of postoperative C-reactive protein elevation versus complication occurrence: a multicenter validation study

Abstract

Background: Several studies have shown that postoperative complications worsen the prognosis of patients with malignancies. However, our previous study showed that C-reactive protein (CRP) elevation over 12 mg/dL was a more reliable prognostic indicator than complication occurrence. This large-scale, multicenter validation study aimed to confirm the prognostic value of postoperative CRP elevation in resectable gastric cancer. Methods: Data of 1456 patients with pT2–T4 gastric cancer who underwent R0 resection were collected from 21 institutions. The prognostic value of the highest postoperative serum level of CRP (CRPmax) during hospitalization was evaluated using the Kaplan–Meier method. The prognostic independence of CRPmax with assessed with a Cox multivariate analysis of recurrence-free survival (RFS). Results: RFS in the high CRPmax (≥ 12 mg/dL) group was significantly worse than that in the low CRPmax (< 12 mg/dL) group (log-rank P = 0.002). The recurrence pattern showed that liver metastasis occurred more frequently in the high CRPmax group (9.2%) than in the low CRPmax group (4.7%) (P = 0.001). In patients without intra-abdominal infectious complications, the high CRPmax group showed significantly worse RFS than the low CRPmax group (log-rank P = 0.026). In patients with intra-abdominal infectious complications, the high CRPmax group had worse RFS than the low CRPmax group, but this difference was not significant (log-rank P = 0.075). Cox multivariate analysis with 13 covariables showed that CRPmax (P = 0.043) was an independent prognostic factor, but postoperative complications were not (P = 0.387). Conclusion: Postoperative CRP elevation was a better predictor of prognosis in patients with gastric cancer than the occurrence of intra-abdominal infectious complications.