Clinical and laboratory biomarkers affecting response to anti-EGFR therapy in patients with metastatic colon carcinoma

Colon cancer is a malignancy originating from the colon mucosa. It is the third most common cancer among cancers seen all over the world, after breast and lung cancer. Taking part in cancer screening programs is an important factor in the detection of the disease. Both genetic and environmental factors play a role in the etiology of the disease. As with other malignancies, it has been reported that inflammation is associated with the prognosis of colon cancer. With this study, we aimed to examine the clinical and biochemical markers that affect the Anti-EGFR treatment response and compare them with the data in the literature. Patients with colon cancer who received active treatment between January 2010 and December 2021 at Pamukkale University Faculty of Medicine Department of Medical Oncology were included in our study. 113 patients who were at the metastatic stage and received anti-EGFR therapy were retrospectively examined. The information of the patients was accessed by scanning the records of the hospital electronic file system. Age, gender, additional illness, diagnosis dates, stages of diagnosis, histopathological data, tumor localization, mutation data, metastasis status, surgery history, chemotherapy regimens they received, response status to treatment, laboratory findings were examined. The TNM staging system was used for staging. The values of Neutrophil count, Lymphocyte count, Platelet count, LDH, Albumin, CRP, Total Cholesterol, NLR, PLR, CRP/Albumin, CONUT, PNI, PFS were calculated for each patient according to the values. At the end of our study, a statistically significant correlation was found between the patients' CRP/Albumin ratio, CONUT score and CRP values before anti-EGFR treatment and PFS. As a result, some parameters that may be effective for survival in patients with metastatic colon cancer and may provide implications for clinicians have been identified. This study emphasizes that metastatic colon cancer is a heterogeneous disease with many different predictive and prognostic variables, and inflammatory markers may have an effect on treatment response. The number of patients evaluated in our study does not constitute a large sample. More studies are needed to reveal the reasons for the different results in the literature.