THE USE OF COMPLETE BLOOD COUNT AS INFLAMMATORY BIOMARKERS IN PATIENTS WITH GASTRIC CANCER IN ENUGU STATE UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY TEACHING HOSPITAL, PARKLANE ENUGU

A complete blood count (CBC) is a standard investigation required from all gastric cancer patients before treatment and during treatment. Poor CBC parameters may negatively affect cancer outcomes. This present study investigated the use of Complete Blood Count (CBC) and Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate (ESR) as an assessment of inflammation in these subjects. The study comprised of 54 male and female subjects and 54 controls with ages between 21-70 years. A longitudinal study method was used. The samples were collected from apparently healthy individuals as control, pre-treatment and the treatment samples at different stages. Questionnaire used obtained other demographic information. The data was analyzed with IBM SPSS PC. Version 20.0 SPSS Inc., Chicago, III., USA. Results showed decreased Lymphocyte/Monocyte ratio(LMR) were significantly increased hazard ratio (HR) and decreased OS at p<0.05.While increased Neutrophil/Lymphocyte ratio(NLR) and Platelet/Monocyte ratio(PLR) had no significant difference at P>0.05. In CBC and ESR, control, pre-treatment and treatment period, RBC parameters and TWBC parameters showed a significant decrease at p<0.05 in treatment results compared to the pre-treatment and control results while others showed no significant increase at p<0.05 in treatment results compared to pre-treatment results. Treatment RDW and MPV observed a significant increase (p<0.05) compared to the control and pre-treatment results. Age group 21-30 years showed more susceptibility than other age groups with lowest mean±SD in CBC and ESR but with no significant difference at p>0.05.This present study supports the concept that biomarkers such as CBC and ESR can be used as a prognostic tool in early detection, treatment and monitoring the disease progression in these subjects.