Background Numerous studies show that the pretreatment neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is associated with the prognosis of patients with RCC. However, their findings are inconsistent, urging us to explore the prognostic value of NLR in RCC patients. Methods This study was pre-registered in PROSPERO (CRD42020167131). Two reviewers independently performed a systematical search of PubMed, Web of Science, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library databases for prospective or retrospective cohort studies investigating the prognostic value of pretreatment NLR. Hazard ratios with 95% confidence intervals for overall survival (OS), disease-free survival (DFS), progression-free survival (PFS), cancer-specific survival (CSS), and other useful clinicopathological features were extracted and analyzed with fixed or random-effect models by using Review Manager 5.3 and Stata 12.0 software. Heterogeneity was estimated on the basis of Cochran’s Q test and I2 value. Sensitivity analyses and subgroup analyses were also performed to explore the potential sources of heterogeneity. Publication bias was assessed with funnel plots and precisely assessed by Egger’s tests. The quality of the evidence was evaluated in accordance with the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE). Results Overall, 6461 RCC patients from 24 retrospective studies and 1 prospective study were included. In overall population, elevated pretreatment NLR was associated with poorer OS (pooled HR = 1.90, 95% CI = 1.56–2.30, p < 0.001; I2 = 87%), DFS/PFS (pooled HR = 2.09, 95% CI: 1.49–2.94, p < 0.001; I2 = 99%), and CSS (pooled HR = 2.31, 95% CI: 1.61–3.33, p < 0.001; I2 = 14%). Furthermore, this negative association was further confirmed in patients with nonmetastatic and metastatic RCC patients, respectively. We also investigated the predictive role of NLR in metastatic RCC patients treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). The results indicated that the level of NLR was significantly associated with OS (pooled HR = 3.92, 95% CI: 2.00–7.69, p < 0.001; I2 = 0%) and PFS (pooled HR = 2.20, 95% CI: 95% CI: 1.61–3.01, p < 0.001; I2 = 20%). Conclusions This study demonstrated that elevated pretreatment NLR was significantly associated with poor prognosis of RCC patients. NLR could be helpful as a potential prognostic biomarker to guide clinical decision-making and select individualized treatment strategies for RCC patients.

Perovskite oxides based electrocatalysts hold great promise as potential alternatives to platinum-based electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), and thus have attracted tremendous research interests. Nevertheless, exploring high-performance ORR catalysts...

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Transition metal hydroxide heterostructures have exhibited great potential to substitute precious metal catalysts for the electrocatalytic water splitting due to their tunable electronic structures and boosted catalytic performance. However, exploring...

As a type of nonmetals fluorescent reagent, the described chlorine phenol–formaldehyde resin (Cl–PFR) nanoparticles (NPs) were synthesized using a facile method. The as‐synthesized Cl–PFR NPs can emit strong green fluorescence emission under 365 nm ultraviolet (UV) light irradiation. As mesoporous silica (MSN) NPs have a large specific area, strong adsorption, and uniform dispersion, MSN‐coated Cl–PFR composites were prepared by mixing Cl–PFR and MSN NPs together. The as‐synthesized multifunctional composites combining the advantages of the green fluorescence of Cl–PFR, and the strong adhesion of MSN was applied to detect potential fingerprints. Different base fingerprints (glass, paper, aluminium sheets, rough stones, tape) could be clearly observed in the presence of the Cl–PFR@MSN–NH2 composites. Furthermore, fingerprints that had been aged for 3 months and washed with water several times could also be clearly displayed using the multifunctional composites. This study provided a simple, economical, and nontoxic fluorescent reagent for application in fingerprint detection.