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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Surg.

Sec. Surgical Oncology

Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fsurg.2025.1636235

This article is part of the Research TopicDeciphering Cell-Cell Interactions in Triple-Negative Breast CancerView all 4 articles

The Role of Pan-Immune-Inflammation Index in the Prognosis of Chinese Cases with Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Following Surgical Resection

Provisionally accepted
Ming  QiMing Qi1Xuele  TaoXuele Tao1Feng  DingFeng Ding2Tianyi  DongTianyi Dong1*
  • 1Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University, Jinan, China
  • 2Shandong Second People's Hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University, Jinan, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

Background: Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is an aggressive subtype of breast cancer associated with high recurrence rates and poor survival outcomes. Growing evidence suggests that systemic inflammation plays a critical role in tumor progression and immune evasion. The pan-immune-inflammation value (PIV), a composite index derived from peripheral blood counts, has emerged as a potential biomarker of host immune and inflammatory status. Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the prognostic value of preoperative PIV in Chinese cases with TNBC following curative surgical resection. Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of 312 TNBC cases treated at a tertiary center in China between January 2015 and March 2020. PIV was calculated as (neutrophil count × platelet count × monocyte count) / lymphocyte count using preoperative blood tests. According to a ROC-derived cutoff value of 353, cases were stratified into low and high PIV groups. Kaplan–Meier curves and Cox regression analyses were used to analyze survival outcomes, like disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS). Confounders for multivariate adjustment were selected based on clinical relevance and univariate significance (p < 0.10). Model performance was evaluated using Harrell’s concordance index (C-index). Results: Cases with a high PIV showed significantly worse survival outcomes. The 5-year OS was 62.5% in the high PIV group compared with 71.6% in the low PIV group. High PIV was also associated with shorter DFS (median 36.8 vs. 45.2 months, p < 0.05). Multivariate analysis confirmed high PIV as an independent predictor of poor OS (HR, 1.75; p = 0.003) and DFS (HR, 1.61; p = 0.009), even after adjusting for tumor stage, nodal status, and histologic grade. Conclusion: Preoperative PIV is an independent and accessible prognostic biomarker in Chinese cases with TNBC following surgery. Its integration into clinical risk models may aid in identifying high-risk cases and tailoring postoperative management strategies for them.

Keywords: Triple-negative breast cancer, Pan-Immune-Inflammation Value, prognostic biomarker, systemic inflammation, survival analysis

Received: 27 May 2025; Accepted: 30 Sep 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Qi, Tao, Ding and Dong. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Tianyi Dong, dongtianyidty@163.com

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