AUTHOR=Wen Ze-Lin , Zhou Xiong , Xiao Da-Chun 

TITLE=Is red blood cell distribution width a prognostic factor for colorectal cancer? A meta-analysis

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Surgery

VOLUME=9

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/surgery/articles/10.3389/fsurg.2022.945126

DOI=10.3389/fsurg.2022.945126

ISSN=2296-875X

ABSTRACT=<sec><title>Background</title><p>RDW might be an easy and cost-effective pre-operative prognostic factor for cancer patients. The aim of the current study was to analyze whether red blood cell distribution width (RDW) was a prognostic factor for colorectal cancer (CRC) patients who underwent radical surgery.</p></sec><sec><title>Methods</title><p>We conducted the searching strategy in three databases including the PubMed, Embase and Cochrane Library from the inception to May 07, 2022, to find eligible studies. In this meta-analysis, we focused on the prognosis. Pooled hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated for overall survival (OS), disease-free survival (DFS) and cancer-specific survival (CSS).</p></sec><sec><title>Results</title><p>A total of seven studies involving 7,541 patients were included in this meta-analysis. After pooling up the HRs, red blood cell distribution width-coefficient of variation (RDW-CV) was not an independent prognostic factor of OS (HR = 1.48, <italic>I</italic><sup>2 </sup>= 90%, 95% CI = 0.93 to 2.36, <italic>P</italic> = 0.10), however, red blood cell distribution width-standard deviation (RDW-SD) was an independent prognostic factor of OS (HR = 1.99, <italic>I</italic><sup>2 </sup>= 0%, 95% CI = 1.59 to 2.49, <italic>P</italic> &lt; 0.01). As for DFS, we found that RDW-CV (HR = 1.51, <italic>I</italic><sup>2 </sup>= 83%, 95% CI = 0.94 to 2.43, <italic>P</italic> = 0.09 &lt; 0.10) and RDW-SD (HR = 1.77, <italic>I</italic><sup>2 </sup>= 56%, 95% CI = 0.91 to 3.43, <italic>P</italic> = 0.09 &lt; 0.10) were both the independent prognostic factors. In terms of CSS, we found that RDW-CV was not an independent prognostic factor (HR = 1.23, <italic>I</italic><sup>2 </sup>= 95%, 95% CI = 0.72 to 2.10, <italic>P</italic> = 0.46).</p></sec><sec><title>Conclusion</title><p>RDW-SD was an independent prognostic factor of OS and DFS, and RDW-CV was an independent prognostic factor of DFS.</p></sec>