Low serum total cholesterol levels predict inferior prognosis of patients with POEMS syndrome

Low serum cholesterol levels are associated with increased tumor morbidity and mortality. However, the relationship between serum lipid profile and POEMS syndrome (polyneuropathy, organomegaly, endocrinopathy, M-protein, skin changes) is still unclear. The aim of our study was to clarify the importance of the serum lipid profile in predicting the severity and prognosis of patients with POEMS syndrome. Forty-three patients with newly diagnosed POEMS syndrome admitted to the Department of Hematology of Jiangsu Provincial People's Hospital between August 2013 and February 2023 were selected. They had explicit serum lipid profiles. There were 27 males and 16 females with a median age of 54 years (range, 28-77 years). Survival curves were plotted using the Kaplan-Meier method, and comparisons between the two groups were performed using the log-rank test. The Cox proportional-hazards model examined risk factors associated with the prognosis of POEMS syndrome. Receiver-operator characteristic (ROC) curves assessed the predictive accuracy. 23 (53.5%) patients had low total cholesterol (TC) levels. Low levels of TC were concerned with unfavorable progression-free survival (PFS) (p = 0.007) and overall survival (OS) (p = 0.004), and at the same time, the low circulating TC concentration was an independent risk factor for PFS (p = 0.020) and OS (p = 0.011). Low TC values could improve the risk stratification, especially in high-risk patients. In conclusion, low serum TC levels may predict inferior prognosis in patients with POEMS syndrome; in future clinical application, low TC may be a reliable indicator of prognosis.