Ann Surg Treat Res.  2015 Aug;89(2):81-86. 10.4174/astr.2015.89.2.81.

Preoperative neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio is a prognostic factor for overall survival in patients with gastric cancer

• Kim JH
• Han DS
• Bang HY
• Kim PS
• Lee KY

• KMID: 2166975
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4174/astr.2015.89.2.81

Abstract

PURPOSE
Preoperative neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) reflects patients' inflammation status, clinical stage, and survival in various malignancies. However, only a limited amount of information on the clinical importance and prognostic significance of NLR in gastric cancer has been reported. The objective of this study is to assess the prognostic values of preoperative NLR in patients with gastric cancer.
METHODS
During the period between August 1, 2005 and December 31, 2011, we collected data from 601 patients among those who had undergone surgery for gastric cancer at the Department of Surgery, Konkuk University Medical Center. We classified the subjects into high NLR (NLR > or = 1.7) group and low NLR (NLR < 1.7) group.
RESULTS
The gender, age, and American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) score did not differ in the two NLR groups. The pathologic features (tumor size, histology, number of examined lymph node, T stage, N stage, and TNM stage) did not differ either, except for tumor location (P = 0.006). Multivariate analysis identified TNM stage, NLR, and age as significant prognostic factors. Gender, tumor size, location, and histology did not show their prognostic significance when we applied the Cox proportional hazard model.
CONCLUSION
Our study verified that advanced stage, high preoperative NLR (NLR > or = 1.7), and old age (> or = 70 years) are significant, independent prognostic factor for overall survival in patients with gastric cancer.

Keyword

Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio; Gastric neoplasms; Survival

MeSH Terms

Academic Medical Centers
Humans
Inflammation
Lymph Nodes
Multivariate Analysis
Proportional Hazards Models
Stomach Neoplasms*

Figure

• 

  Fig. 1 Receiver operating curve of preoperative NLR (NLR, 1.7; sensitivity, 0.66; specificity, 0.54; positive predictive value, 0.18; negative predictive value, 0.91). NLR, neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio; AUC, area under curve.

• 

  Fig. 2 Kaplan-Meier survival curve for significant variables in univariate analysis. NLR, neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio.

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