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Abstract
Recently, the albumin-to-globulin ratio (AGR) has been investigated as a prognostic parameter in patients with colorectal cancer (CRC); however, the results remain inconsistent. We aimed to quantitatively identify the prognostic role of the AGR in CRC through meta-analysis. Combined hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated to assess the prognostic value of the AGR for overall survival (OS), disease-free survival (DFS)/progression-free survival (PFS), and cancer-specific survival (CSS). The association between the AGR and clinicopathological factors was investigated using pooled odds ratios (ORs) and 95% CIs. Eleven studies, comprising 8,397 patients, were included in this meta-analysis. Our results demonstrated that a low AGR was significantly associated with poor OS (HR, 2.58; 95% CI, 1.90–3.51; p < 0.001) and poor DFS/PFS (HR, 2.11; 95% CI, 1.46–3.05; p < 0.001) in CRC. However, the AGR was not a significant prognostic factor for CSS (HR, 1.008; 95% CI, 0.372–2.730; p = 0.988). In addition, a low AGR was associated with patients aged ≥60 years (OR, 1.71; 95% CI, 1.54–1.89; p < 0.001). A low AGR was significantly associated with worse OS and inferior DFS/PFS in patients with CRC. Thus, AGR can be used as a cost-effective and reliable prognostic marker for CRC in clinical practice.
Data Availability Statement
The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Disclosure Statement
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
Ethics Approval and Consent to Participate
No ethical approval or informed consent statement was required for this article.
Funding
The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.