Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42798176›Full record

ArticleColorectal disease : the official journal of the Association of Coloproctology of Great Britain and Ireland2026

Systemic inflammation and prognosis in patients with RAS/BRAF wild-type metastatic colorectal cancer receiving anti-EGFR therapy: A real-world cohort study.

Jordan W Appleyard, Faye Elliott, Nancy L Sapanara, Liping Zhang, Uday Kurkure, Jenny F Seligmann, Nicholas P West, Kandavel Shanmugam, Philip Quirke, Christopher J M Williams and 1 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Colorectal disease : the official journal of the Association of Coloproctology of Great Britain and Ireland, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
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1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors.

Jordan W AppleyardDivision of Oncology, Leeds Institute of Medical Research, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0127-1219
Faye ElliottDivision of Haematology and Immunology, Leeds Institute of Medical Research, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK.
Nancy L SapanaraClinical Development & Medical Affairs, Roche Diagnostics Solutions, Tucson, Arizona, USA.
Liping ZhangClinical Development & Medical Affairs, Roche Diagnostics Solutions, Tucson, Arizona, USA.
Uday KurkureComputational Science and Informatics, Roche Diagnostics Solutions, Santa Clara, California, USA.
Jenny F SeligmannDivision of Oncology, Leeds Institute of Medical Research, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK.
Nicholas P WestDivision of Pathology and Data Analytics, Leeds Institute of Medical Research, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0346-6709
Kandavel ShanmugamClinical Development & Medical Affairs, Roche Diagnostics Solutions, Tucson, Arizona, USA.
Philip QuirkeDivision of Pathology and Data Analytics, Leeds Institute of Medical Research, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK.
Christopher J M WilliamsDivision of Oncology, Leeds Institute of Medical Research, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1574-653X
N6 Collaboration

Funding

Cancer Research UK RCCCTF-Nov21/100001National Institute for Health and Care Research, Leeds Biomedical Research Centre NIHR203331UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) 104687Yorkshire Cancer Research L386Yorkshire Cancer Research L394
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

aimColorectal cancer outcomes are heterogeneous, so greater prognostic discrimination is needed. In this retrospective real-world analysis, we assessed the prognostic effect of markers of systemic inflammation in a cohort of patients with RAS/BRAF wild-type metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) who received anti-EGFR therapy during routine care. We further examined the association between these markers and the known predictive biomarkers of anti-EGFR efficacy, amphiregulin (AREG) and epiregulin (EREG).

methodThe prognostic effects of the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) and systemic immune-inflammation index (SII) were tested. The cohort was randomly partitioned into training and validation sets (1:1). Cutoff values were defined in the training set, with analyses repeated in the validation set. The primary endpoint was overall survival (OS). Secondary endpoints were progression-free survival (PFS), objective response rate and disease control rate.

results374 patients with RAS and BRAF wild-type mCRC who received treatment with cetuximab or panitumumab across eight UK centres were included. NLR (≤ 4 vs. > 4) and PLR (≤ 200 vs. > 200) were independently prognostic for both OS and PFS. SII (≤ 900 vs. > 900) gave the strongest prognostic signal (OS: adjusted HR 1.63 [1.26-2.11], p = 0.0002 and PFS: adjusted HR 1.62 [1.26-2.08], p = 0.0001). There were no associations between NLR or PLR with AREG or EREG, suggesting anti-EGFR benefit in AREG/EREG-high tumours is not related to systemic inflammation.

conclusionRoutinely assessed markers of systemic inflammation are independently prognostic in patients with mCRC receiving anti-EGFR therapy and may serve as useful adjuncts in informing discussions with patients about prognosis.

Indexed as

Colorectal NeoplasmsInflammationAgedAmphiregulinBiomarkers, TumorCetuximabCohort StudiesEpiregulinErbB ReceptorsFemaleHumansLymphocytesMaleMiddle AgedNeutrophilsPanitumumabAmphiregulinAREG protein, humanBiomarkers, TumorBRAF protein, humanCetuximabEGFR protein, humanEpiregulinErbB ReceptorsEREG protein, humanPanitumumabProto-Oncogene Proteins B-rafamphiregulinanti‐EGFRcetuximabepiregulinmetastatic colorectal cancerneutrophil‐to‐lymphocyte ratiopanitumumabplatelet‐to‐lymphocyte ratiosystemic immune‐inflammation index

Identifiers

PMID42798176
PMCPMC13615331

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.