Abstract
Peripheral T-cell lymphoma (PTCL) is an aggressive and heterogenous T-cell lymphoid malignancy. The prognostic value of C-reactive protein-to-albumin ratio (CAR) has never been assessed in PTCL. This study retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 76 patients diagnosed with various subtypes of PTCL. The value of 0.794 was identified as the most discriminative point of CAR, and clinical outcomes, including response rate, overall survival (OS), and progression-free survival (PFS), were compared between the high (>0.794, n=25) and low (≤0.794, n=51) CAR groups. After induction therapy, complete response was achieved in 39 patients (76.5%) and 8 patients (32.0%) in the low and high CAR groups, respectively (p<0.001). During the median follow-up of 57.5 months, the high CAR group had significantly worse 5-year PFS (6.6% vs. 43.8%, p<0.0001) and 5-year OS (20.2% vs. 62.2%, p<0.0001) rates. With adjustment for the International Prognostic Index (≥3), Prognostic Index for PTCL-unspecified (≥3), and T cell score (≥2), high CAR remained a significant prognostic factor for PFS (hazard ratio [HR]: 4.01, 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.04–7.86, p<0.001) and OS (HR: 2.97, 95% CI: 1.33–6.64, p=0.008). CAR might play a complementary role in predicting prognosis in patients with PTCL, considering its simplicity, objectivity, and easy accessibility.