ABSTRACT
Objective This study aimed to investigate the correlation of the preoperative peripheral blood lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio (LMR) with the prognosis of laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC). Methods We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data on 147 cases of LSCC treated by surgical resection in our hospital between January 2008 and December 2017. According to the optimal cut-off value of preoperative LMR in the ROC curve analysis, we divided the patients into a high-LMR and a low-LMR group, analyzed the relationship between LMR and the clinicopathological features, and assessed its influence on the overall survival of the patients. Results The optimal cut-off value of preoperative LMR was 3.24. Of the total number of patients, 81 were found with an LMR ≥ 3.24 (the high-LMR group) and the other 66 with an LMR < 3.24 preoperatively (the high-LMR group). The 1-year, 3-year and 5-year overall survival rates were significantly higher in the high-LMR (98.76%, 92.59% and 85.18%) than in the low-LMR group (87.88%, 69.70% and 60.60%) (P < 0.01). Multivariate analysis with the Cox proportional hazard model showed that the risk factors influencing the overall survival of the LSCC patients included the N stage (OR = 0.336, 95% CI: 0.149-0.758) and low preoperative LMR (OR = 0.474, 95% CI: 0.248-0.907) (P < 0.05). Conclusion LSCC patients with a higher preoperative LMR have a higher rate of overall survival. The preoperative LMR plays a valuable role in predicting the postoperative survival of LSCC patients.