Prognostic value of blood neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) in patients with gastric cancer / 中华肿瘤杂志

ABSTRACT

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To explore the prognostic value of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) in patients with gastric cancer.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>591 cases of gastric cancer pathologically diagnosed at the Fourth Hospital of Hebei Medical University in 2006 were included in this study. The clinical information including age and gender, cancer, treatment, and the first blood test information at admission were collected from the medical record room and analyzed. The patients were followed up to March 15, 2012. The survival was calculated by Kaplan-Meier analysis. The differences between groups were compared using Log-rank test. Cox regression was used to analyze the factors which may affect the survival of the patients. Software SPSS 13.0 was used for statistical analysis.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>In 2006, a total of 591 patients were enrolled in this study in accordance with the inclusion criteria. By the end of the study, 538 cases were followed up. The follow-up rate was 91.0%. Among them 353 cases died of gastric cancer, 185 patients are still alive. In the whole group of 538 cases, the 1-, 3-, and 5-year survival rate was 69.9%, 47.0%, and 37.5%, respectively. In the low NLR group, the 1-, 3-, and 5-year survival rate was 76.1%, 50.1%, and 42.7%, respectively, while those of the high NLR group was 53.1%, 38.6%, and 23.4%, respectively, showing a significant difference between the two groups (P < 0.05). Univariate analysis showed that the survival rate was significantly correlated with age, pathological type, TNM stage, operation, NLR and PLR (P < 0.05 for all). Multivariate analysis showed that TNM stage, operation, NLR and age of patients were independent risk factors for the prognosis of gastric cancer (P < 0.05 for all). According to the sub-site stratified analysis, TNM stage, operation and NLR were independent risk factors for gastric cardia adenocarcinoma (P < 0.05 for all), and age, TNM stage, operation for distal gastric cancer (P < 0.05 for all). PLR was not an independent prognostic factor of survival in patients with gastric cancer.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>NLR may be an independent prognostic factor of gastric cancer.</p>