The neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), a simple marker of the systemic inflammatory response in critical care patients, has been suggested as an independent prognostic factor for several solid malignancies.
We investigated the utility of pretreatment NLR as a prognosticator in patients who presented with metastatic prostate cancer.
We first investigated the correlation between NLR and prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels in 1464 men who had both tests and were found to have prostate cancer on their biopsies at our institution from 1999 to 2015. We then assessed the relationship between pretreatment NLR and the prognosis in 48 patients who were diagnosed with prostate cancer metastasized to the lymph node and/or bone.
The NLR value was significantly elevated in men with higher PSA than in those with lower PSA (p < 0. 001). In patients with metastatic prostate cancer, NLR (cut-off point of 3. 37 determined by the AUROC curve) was correlated with both cancer-specific (p = 0. 018) and overall (p = 0. 008) survivals.
Pretreatment NLR may function as a new biomarker that precisely predicts the prognosis in patients with metastatic prostate cancer.
BMC cancer. 2016 Feb 16*** epublish ***
Takashi Kawahara, Yumiko Yokomizo, Yusuke Ito, Hiroki Ito, Hitoshi Ishiguro, Jun-Ichi Teranishi, Kazuhide Makiyama, Yasuhide Miyoshi, Hiroshi Miyamoto, Masahiro Yao, Hiroji Uemura
Department of Urology, Yokohama City University, Graduate School of Medicine, Yokohama, Japan. Department of Urology, Yokohama City University, Graduate School of Medicine, Yokohama, Japan Department of Urology, Yokohama City University, Graduate School of Medicine, Yokohama, Japan. Department of Urology, Yokohama City University, Graduate School of Medicine, Yokohama, Japan. Photocatalyst Group, Special Research Laboratory, Kanagawa Academy of Science and Technology, Kawasaki, Japan. Departments of Urology and Renal Transplantation, Yokohama City Medical Center, Yokohama, Japan. Department of Urology, Yokohama City University, Graduate School of Medicine, Yokohama, Japan. Departments of Urology and Renal Transplantation, Yokohama City Medical Center, Yokohama, Japan. Departments of Pathology and Urology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, USA. Department of Urology, Yokohama City University, Graduate School of Medicine, Yokohama, Japan. Departments of Urology and Renal Transplantation, Yokohama City Medical Center, Yokohama, Japan.