Prognostic Value of Baseline Neutrophil-Lymphocyte and Platelet-Lymphocyte Ratios in Local and Advanced Gastric Cancer Patients

Abstract

Background: We aimed to investigate the prognostic value of baseline neutrophil, lymphocyte, and platelet counts along with the neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelet-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) in local and advanced gastric cancer patients. Materials and Methods: In this retrospective cross-sectional study, a total of 103 patients with gastric cancer were included. For all, patient characteristics and overall survival (OS) times were evaluated. Data from a complete blood count test including neutrophil, lymphocyte, monocyte, white blood cell (WBC) and platelet (Plt) count, hemoglobin level (Hb) were recorded, and the NLR and PLR were obtained for every patient prior to pathological diagnosis before any treatment was applied. Results: Of the patients, 53 had local disease, underwent surgery and were administered adjuvant chemoradiotherapy where indicated. The remaining 50 had advanced disease and only received chemotherapy. OS time was 71.6±6 months in local gastric cancer patients group and 15±2 months in the advanced gastric cancer group. Univariate analysis demonstrated that only high platelet count (p=0.013) was associated with better OS in the local gastric cancer patients. In contrast, both low NLR (p=0.029) and low PLR (p=0.012) were associated with better OS in advanced gastric cancer patients. Conclusions: This study demonstrated that NLR and PLR had no effect on prognosis in patients with local gastric cancer who underwent surgery and received adjuvant chemoradiotherapy. In advanced gastric cancer patients, both NLR and PLR had significant effects on prognosis, so they may find application as easily measured prognostic factors for such patients.

Systemic Inflammatory Reaction in Gastric Cancer: Biology and Practical Implications of Neutrophil to Lymphocyte Ratio, Glasgow Prognostic Score and Related Parameters

“…In contrast with the previously described findings, NLR was not informative regarding survival of gastric cancer patients having only local disease while it was significantly associated with survival in advanced cases [56]. Some negative findings, including the cited one, can be explained by small study group comprising only 53 patients with local disease and 50 with advanced cancer [56].…”

“…Interestingly, high platelet count was associated with better overall survival in patients having local disease [56].…”

“…Some negative findings, including the cited one, can be explained by small study group comprising only 53 patients with local disease and 50 with advanced cancer [56]. Evaluating Glasgow prognostic score, NLR and PLR in patients with resected stage III gastric adenocarcinoma, only Glasgow prognostic score along with TNM stage was independently associated with cancer-free and overall survival [43].…”

Clinicopathological and prognostic significance of platelet to lymphocyte ratio in patients with gastric cancer

“…As in Aldemir's study [24], the GC patients were included as early stage and advanced stage independently, therefore, the two cohorts were extracted separately and named as Aldemir1 and Aldemir2. The selection process of the included studies was shown in Figure 1.…”

“…The 14 cohorts included 6,280 GC patients. Eight cohorts [14, 21, 23, 25, 27, 29–31] were performed in China, four cohorts [22, 24, 26] were conducted in Turkey and two cohorts [20, 28] were carried out in Korea. The sample sizes ranged from 50 to 1,986.…”