Do haematological parameters such as HALP and Lymphocyte to C-reactive protein ratio predict tumor response to neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy in locally advanced rectal cancer?

Aim: Inflammatory markers are effective in determining the prognosis of malignant diseases. The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship of HALP and LCR with tumor response after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy and their effects on prognosis in patients with locally advanced rectal cancer. Methods: Eighty-eight patients who received nCRT with the diagnosis of LARC were included in the study. First, all patients were divided into 2 groups: patientswith pathological and clinical complete response (pCR+cCR), group1, andpatientswith non-complete response, group 2. The 82 patients who underwent surgery were divided into two groups according to the TRG Dworak: good response and poor response groups. Inflammation markers such as HALP and LCR were obtained using biochemical parameters. Results: HALP and LCR werehigher in the complete response group than in the none-complete response group (P<0.05).When TRG 3-4 (good response group) and TRG 0-1-2 (poor response group) were compared, HALP and LCR were higher in the good response group (P<0.05). The cut-off point for the HALP value was 30.17, the sensitivity was 88.2%, and the specificity was 43.7%. The cutoff point for the LCR value was 0.402, the sensitivity was 88.2%, and the specificity was 63.4%. It was found that HALP and LCR calculated prior to neoadjuvant CRT could not predict overall survival. Conclusions: We believe that inflammatory markers such as HALP and LCR can effectively identify rectal cancer patients who respond best to nCRT.