Increasing evidence suggests that inflammation plays an essential role in cancer development and progression. The inflammation marker neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is correlated with prognosis across a wide variety of tumor types, but its prognostic value in prostate cancer (PCa) remains controversial.
In the present meta-analysis, the prognostic value of NLR in PCa patients is investigated.
We performed a meta-analysis to determine the predictive value of NLR for overall survival (OS), recurrence-free survival (RFS), and clinical features in patients with PCa. We systematically searched PubMed, ISI Web of Science, and Embase for relevant studies published up to October 2015.
A total of 9418 patients from 18 studies were included in the meta-analysis. Elevated pretreatment NLR predicted poor OS (HR 1.628, 95% CI 1.410-1.879) and RFS (HR 1.357, 95% CI 1.126-1.636) in all patients with PCa. However, NLR was insignificantly associated with OS in the subgroup of patients with localized PCa (HR 1.439, 95% CI 0.753-2.75). Increased NLR was also significantly correlated with lymph node involvement (OR 1.616, 95% CI 1.167-2.239) but not with pathological stage (OR 0.827, 95% CI 0.637-1.074) or Gleason score (OR 0.761, 95% CI 0.555-1.044).
The present meta-analysis indicated that NLR could predict the prognosis for patients with locally advanced or castration-resistant PCa. Patients with higher NLR are more likely to have poorer prognosis than those with lower NLR.
PloS one. 2016 Apr 20*** epublish ***
Lu Tang, Xintao Li, Baojun Wang, Guoxiong Luo, Liangyou Gu, Luyao Chen, Kan Liu, Yu Gao, Xu Zhang
State Key Laboratory of Kidney Disease, Department of Urology, Chinese PLA Medical Academy, Chinese People's Liberation Army General Hospital, Beijing, 100853, China., State Key Laboratory of Kidney Disease, Department of Urology, Chinese PLA Medical Academy, Chinese People's Liberation Army General Hospital, Beijing, 100853, China., State Key Laboratory of Kidney Disease, Department of Urology, Chinese PLA Medical Academy, Chinese People's Liberation Army General Hospital, Beijing, 100853, China., State Key Laboratory of Kidney Disease, Department of Urology, Chinese PLA Medical Academy, Chinese People's Liberation Army General Hospital, Beijing, 100853, China., State Key Laboratory of Kidney Disease, Department of Urology, Chinese PLA Medical Academy, Chinese People's Liberation Army General Hospital, Beijing, 100853, China., State Key Laboratory of Kidney Disease, Department of Urology, Chinese PLA Medical Academy, Chinese People's Liberation Army General Hospital, Beijing, 100853, China., State Key Laboratory of Kidney Disease, Department of Urology, Chinese PLA Medical Academy, Chinese People's Liberation Army General Hospital, Beijing, 100853, China., State Key Laboratory of Kidney Disease, Department of Urology, Chinese PLA Medical Academy, Chinese People's Liberation Army General Hospital, Beijing, 100853, China., State Key Laboratory of Kidney Disease, Department of Urology, Chinese PLA Medical Academy, Chinese People's Liberation Army General Hospital, Beijing, 100853, China.