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A new review paper titled "What is hemoglobin, albumin, lymphocyte, platelet (HALP) score? A comprehensive literature review of HALP's prognostic ability in different cancer types" has been published in Oncotarget

Since its inception, the Hemoglobin, Albumin, Lymphocyte, Platelet (HALP) Score has gained attention as a new prognostic biomarker to predict several clinical outcomes in a multitude of cancers.

"HALP is a novel immune-nutritional marker that integrates several routinely collected indicators of immune status, such as the platelet and lymphocyte count, nutritional status, such as albumin, and hemoglobin, a marker for anemia," the researchers state.

In this new review, researchers Christian Mark Farag, Ryan Antar, Sinan Akosman, Matthew Ng, and Michael J. Whalen from George Washington University School of Medicine searched PubMed for articles on HALP, from the first paper in 2015 through September 2022. Their search yielded a total of 32 studies that evaluated HALP's association with various cancers, including gastric, colorectal, bladder, prostate, kidney, esophageal, pharyngeal, lung, breast, cervical cancer and others.

The researchers explain, "This review highlights the collective association HALP has with demographic factors such as age and sex in addition to TNM staging, grade, and tumor size."

Furthermore, this review summarizes HALP's prognostic ability to predict overall, progression-free and recurrence-free survival, among other outcomes. In some studies, HALP has also predicted response to immunotherapy and chemotherapy.

The review article additionally aims to serve as a comprehensive and encyclopedic report on the literature that has evaluated HALP as a biomarker in various cancers, highlighting the heterogeneity surrounding HALP's utilization.

"Because HALP requires only a complete blood count and albumin—already routinely collected for cancer patients—HALP shows potential as a cost-effective biomarker to aid clinicians in improving outcomes for immuno-nutritionally deficient patients," the researchers summarize.

More information: Christian Mark Farag et al, What is hemoglobin, albumin, lymphocyte, platelet (HALP) score? A comprehensive literature review of HALP's prognostic ability in different cancer types, Oncotarget (2023). DOI: 10.18632/oncotarget.28367

Journal information: Oncotarget 

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