The Association between Neutrophil to Lymphocyte Ratio and Development of Early Adenomatous Colon Polyps among Middle-Aged and Elderly Individuals in Korea

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Colon cancer is one of the main causes of mortality. Early adenomatous colon polyp is a precursor of colon cancer through the ‘adenomacarcinoma sequence.’ Epidemiological studies suggest that the neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio can be one of useful inflammatory markers in clinical settings. This study aimed to evaluate the association between neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio and development of early adenomatous colon polyps.METHODS: This cross-sectional study retrospectively examined 960 middle-aged and elderly individuals aged ≥45 years who underwent colonoscopy in a health examination program. Multivariate logistic regression was used to analyze the association between neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio and development of early adenomatous colon polyps.RESULTS: Among the 960 subjects, the prevalence of early adenomatous polyps was 20.7% (n=199). The mean age, body mass index, number of current smokers, white blood cell count, triglyceride level, and number of subjects receiving hypolipidemic drugs were higher in the group with early adenomatous polyps than in the multivariate analysis, the odds ratio (95% confidence interval) for the development of early adenomatous polyps was 1.23 (1.01–1.50) with neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio increment after adjusting the confounding variables (P=0.037).CONCLUSION: We found that the neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio was associated with the development of early adenomatous colon polyps among middle-aged and elderly individuals. Accordingly, this result suggests that regular monitoring of early adenomatous colon polyps may be useful among individuals with a higher neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio.