Platelet‐to‐lymphocyte ratio predicts the prognosis of patients with non‐small cell lung cancer treated with surgery and postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy

Abstract

BackgroundMarkers of preoperative tumor immunity, such as platelet‐to‐lymphocyte ratio (PLR), have been reported to be prognostic factors for patients with various cancers. However, the relationship between PLR and the prognosis of non‐small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients treated with surgery and adjuvant chemotherapy as a multidisciplinary treatment is unknown.MethodsWe enrolled 327 NSCLC patients treated surgically with or without adjuvant chemotherapy (78 and 249 patients, respectively) at our hospital from 2008 to 2012. Patients had no preoperative hematological disease or infection. Preoperative PLR and clinicopathologic characteristics were recorded and their potential associations and prognostic values were assessed by Kaplan–Meier and multivariate Cox regression. The optimal cut‐off value for high and low PLR was calculated from receiver operating characteristic curves.ResultsThe five‐year overall survival rates for patients with low and high PLR were 78% and 57% (P < 0.01) for all patients, and 69% and 37% (P < 0.01) for patients who received adjuvant chemotherapy, respectively. Similarly, the five‐year disease‐free survival rates for patients with low and high PLR were 66% and 62% (P = 0.03) for all patients, and 47% and 14% (P < 0.01) for patients who received adjuvant chemotherapy, respectively. Cox proportional hazard regression indicated that high PLR was an independent prognostic factor for both overall and disease‐free survival in the adjuvant chemotherapy group.ConclusionElevated PLR predicts poor prognosis in surgically treated NSCLC patients, especially those who receive adjuvant chemotherapy.

Prognostic value of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte, platelet-to-lymphocyte and lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio ratios in patients operated on due to non-small cell lung cancer

“…The neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR), the platelet to lymphocyte ratio (PLR) and the lymphocyte to monocyte ratio (LMR) are regarded as reliable markers of inflammatory processes, ongoing oncological patients. An elevated level of these ratios is a consequence of increased numbers of neutrophils, monocytes and platelets and/or a decreased number of lymphocytes, accompanying the neoplastic process (8)(9)(10).…”

Platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio as a prognostic predictor of mortality for sepsis: interaction effect with disease severity—a retrospective study

“…In recent years, studies have reported that platelets and lymphocytes play critical roles in the inflammatory process. Therefore, the platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR)—a novel inflammatory factor—has received research attention recently, as it may act as an indicator of inflammation8 in a wide spectrum of diseases, such as myocardial infarction,9 acute kidney injury (AKI),10 hepatocellular carcinoma11 and non-small cell lung cancer 12…”

Prognostic value of platelet count and lymphocyte to monocyte ratio combination in stage IV non-small cell lung cancer with malignant pleural effusion

“…NLR can also predict postoperative outcome after curative resection [ 12 – 14 ]. Platelet to lymphocyte ratio is also a prognostic marker in advanced NSCLC [ 15 – 17 ]. Moreover, lymphocyte to monocyte ratio (LMR) is an independent prognostic factor in NSCLC [ 18 ].…”