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Elevated apolipoprotein A-I levels are associated with favorable prognosis in metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma

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Abstract

The survival outcomes of patients with metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) differ significantly between individuals. Serum lipids and lipoproteins have been reported to be associated with prognosis in some cancers, but it has not been studied in metastatic NPC. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether serum lipid and lipoproteins could predict the prognosis of metastatic NPC patients. Eight hundred and seven patients with metastatic NPC were analyzed retrospectively, and the values of serum lipids and lipoproteins at baseline were retrieved. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis and univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazards analyses were used to evaluate the associations of serum lipids and lipoproteins with overall survival (OS). Univariate analysis revealed that higher values of baseline cholesterol (≥4.655 mmol/L), baseline high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (≥0.965 mmol/L), and baseline apolipoprotein A-I (ApoA-I) (≥1.065 g/L) were significantly associated with superior OS (p < 0.001), respectively. Multivariate Cox proportional hazard analysis showed that higher ApoA-I level (vs. lower ApoA-I level, HR 0.64, 95 % CI 0.52–0.80, p < 0.001) was an independent protective factor against progression. In addition, higher body mass index, earlier N stages, single lesion, and absence of liver metastasis were also revealed to be independent protective factors. In conclusion, the elevated baseline ApoA-I level may predict those patients likely to have a favorable OS.

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Acknowledgments

Supported by Sun Yat-Sen University Clinical Re 5010 Program (201310) and National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grants No. 81071890).

Conflict of interest

None declared.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, 651 Dongfeng East Road, Guangzhou, 510060, People’s Republic of China

    Rou Jiang, Dong-Hua Luo, Ling Guo, Rui Sun, Qiu-Yan Chen, Pei-Yu Huang, Fang Qiu, Xiong Zou, Ka-Jia Cao, Hai-Qiang Mai, Xiang Guo, Chao-Nan Qian, Ming-Huang Hong & Ming-Yuan Chen

  2. State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, 651 Dongfeng East Road, Guangzhou, 510060, People’s Republic of China

    Rou Jiang, Dong-Hua Luo, Ling Guo, Rui Sun, Qiu-Yan Chen, Pei-Yu Huang, Fang Qiu, Xiong Zou, Ka-Jia Cao, Hai-Qiang Mai, Xiang Guo, Chao-Nan Qian, Ming-Huang Hong & Ming-Yuan Chen

  3. Department of Biochemistry, Zhong Shan School of Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University, 74 Zhongshan No. 2 Road, Guangzhou, 510080, People’s Republic of China

    Zhong-Han Yang

  4. Department of Cancer Prevention, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, 651 Dongfeng East Road, Guangzhou, 510060, People’s Republic of China

    Rou Jiang

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  1. Rou Jiang
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Correspondence to Ming-Yuan Chen.

Additional information

Rou Jiang, Zhong-Han Yang, and Dong-Hua Luo have contributed equally to this study.

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12032_2014_80_MOESM1_ESM.tif

Figure S1. Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve analyses of baseline serum lipid and lipoprotein levels, weight, height, and BMI cutoff points for Overall Survival (OS) analyses. ROC curve analyses to determine cutoff levels for triglyceride (A), cholesterol (B), HDL-C(C), LDL-C(D), ApoA-I (E), Apo-B (F), height (G), weight (H), and BMI (I). The triglyceride, cholesterol, HDL-C, LDL-C, ApoA-I, ApoB, height, weight, and BMI cutoff points for OS analyses were 0.955 mmol/L, 4.655 mmol/L, 0.965 mmol/L, 2.545 mmol/L, 1.065 g/L, 1.155 g/L, 164.25 cm, 57.25 kg, and 20.735 kg/m2, respectively. (TIFF 1430 kb)

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Jiang, R., Yang, ZH., Luo, DH. et al. Elevated apolipoprotein A-I levels are associated with favorable prognosis in metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Med Oncol 31, 80 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12032-014-0080-y

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