Platelet to lymphocyte ratio in differentiation of benign and malignant thyroid nodules

Abstract

Differentiation of thyroid nodules, either as benign or malignant, is a real diagnostic challenge. Inflammation has an important role in development of the malignancy. Therefore, inflammatory markers are associated with malignant thyroid nodules. Platelet /lymphocyte ratio (PLR) is also one of the novel inflammatory indices derived from hemogram tests. We hypothesized whether PLR was associated with malignant thyroid nodules. For this purpose, we compared PLR levels of the patients with benign thyroid nodules to the PLR of the subjects with malignant nodules. Methods: The subjects who visited outpatient internal medicine clinics of our institution with a diagnosis of thyroid nodule were enrolled to the present retrospective study. According to the examination of the fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) specimen of the nodules, patients grouped into benign or malignant nodule groups. PLR of groups were compared. Results: Median PLR values of the benign and malignant thyroid nodule groups were 106 (48-432) % and 119 (48-365) %, respectively (p=0.001). PLR value higher than 106% has 69% sensitivity and 51% specificity in detecting malignant nodules (AUC: 0.59, p=0.001, 95% CI: 0.54-0.65). PLR was positively correlated with TSH level (r=0.10, p=0.34). Conclusion:We suggest that elevated PLR could be an additional tool to differentiate malignant thyroid nodules from benign ones in supportive of sonography, scintigraphy and cytology.

Platelets, mean platelet volume, lymphocytes, leukocytes, and ratios of them altered in patients with hepatitis B virus‐related decompensated cirrhosis

“…We suspected this result mainly due to the newly intensified hepatic inflammation in HBV‐DeCi patients during flare‐ups of liver injury triggered a strong Lymphocytes response, which was consistent with earlier reports 32 . PLR was a considered as a diagnostic or prognostic marker in type 2 DM, 33 irritable bowel syndrome, 34 novel coronavirus infection, 35 thyroid conditions, 36 autoimmune hepatitis 37 and cancer 38 . Meanwhile, lower PLR is also significantly correlated with HBV infection, which indicates the severity of liver disease.…”

Hematological ratios in coronavirus disease 2019 patients with and without invasive mechanical ventilation

“…10,11 Similarly, PLR has association with inflammatory conditions such as liver fibrosis and cancer. 12,13 Therefore, it is logical to study NLR and PLR in COVID-19 disease, which is characterized with high inflammatory burden. In turn, SII is an inflammatory marker and has been used as a prognostic indicator in the follow-up of sepsis and in cancer patients.…”

Systematic analysis of the cuprotosis in tumor microenvironment and prognosis of gastric cancer

“…It is widely known that inflammatory indicators have essential implications for tumor immunotherapy and prognosis. Several studies demonstrate that inflammatory markers derived from hemograms, such as erythrocyte distribution width, mean platelet volume, and platelet/lymphocyte ratio, are significantly altered in the blood and tumor tissues of patients with thyroid cancer [ [16] , [17] , [18] ]. Next, it has been established that patients with stomach cancer and healthy individuals have significantly different serum copper levels [ 19 ].…”