Systematic review and pooled analysis of the impact of treatment-induced lymphopenia on survival of glioblastoma patients

Abstract

Abstract Purpose/objective(s) Treatment related lymphopenia is a known toxicity for glioblastoma (GBM) patients and several single-institution studies have linked lymphopenia with poor survival outcomes. We performed a systematic review and pooled analysis to evaluate the association between lymphopenia and overall survival (OS) for GBM patients undergoing chemotherapy and radiation therapy (RT). Materials/methods Following PRISMA guidelines, a systematic literature review of the MEDLINE database and abstracts from ASTRO, ASCO, and SNO annual meetings was conducted. A pooled analysis was performed using inverse variance-weighted random effects to generate a pooled estimate of the hazard ratio of association between lymphopenia and OS. Results Ten of 104 identified studies met inclusion criteria, representing 1,718 patients. The lymphopenia cutoff value varied (400–1100 cells/uL) and as well as the timing of its onset. Studies were grouped as time-point (i.e., lymphopenia at approximately 2-months post-RT) or time-range (any lymphopenia occurrence from treatment-start to approximately 2-months post-RT. The mean overall pooled incidence of lymphopenia for all studies was 31.8%, and 11.8% vs. 39.9% for time-point vs. time-range studies, respectively. Lymphopenia was associated with increased risk of death, with a pooled HR of 1.78 (95% CI 1.46–2.17, P < 0.00001) for the time-point studies, and a pooled HR of 1.38 (95% CI 1.24–1.55, P < 0.00001) for the time-point studies. There was no significant heterogeneity between studies. Conclusion These results strengthen observations from previous individual single-institution studies and better defines the magnitude of the association between lymphopenia with OS in GBM patients, highlighting lymphopenia as a poor prognostic factor.