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- Title
Neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio has a prognostic value for patients with terminal cancer.
- Authors
Yoichi Nakamura; Ryohei Watanabe; Miwa Katagiri; Yoshihisa Saida; Natsuya Katada; Manabu Watanabe; Yasushi Okamoto; Koji Asai; Toshiyuki Enomoto; Takaharu Kiribayashi; Shinya Kusachi
- Abstract
Background: Determining prognosis in advanced cancer is of key importance. Various prognostic scores have been developed. However, they are often very complex. In this study, we evaluated the feasibility of neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR) as an index to estimate survival in terminal cancer patients. Methods: NLR was calculated retrospectively based on blood tests performed at 3 months, 2 months, 4 weeks, 3 weeks, 2 weeks, 1 week, and within 3 days before death in 160 cancer patients (82 men, 78 women; age range, 33-99 years; mean age, 69.8 years). Results: NLR increased significantly with time (P < 0.0001). Mean NLR was significantly higher in patients who died within 4 weeks (29.82) than in those who lived more than 4 weeks (6.15). The NLR cutoff point was set at 9. 21 according to receiver operating characteristic curve analysis (area under the curve, 0.82; 95% confidence interval, 0.79-0.85). We inferred that life expectancy would be <4 weeks when NLR >9.21. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value were 65.6, 84.1, 90.6, and 51.1%, respectively. The positive and negative likelihood ratios were 4.125 and 0.409, respectively. Conclusions: NLR appears to be a useful and simple parameter to predict the clinical outcomes of patients with terminal cancer.
- Subjects
NEUTROPHILS; LYMPHOCYTES; PROGNOSTIC tests; TERMINAL care; CANCER patient medical care; PALLIATIVE treatment
- Publication
World Journal of Surgical Oncology, 2016, Vol 14, p1
- ISSN
1477-7819
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1186/s12957-016-0904-7