Cancer Management and Research (Jan 2023)

Prognostic Value of the Neutrophil-to-Lymphocyte Ratio in Patients Treated with Definitive Chemoradiotherapy for Locally Advanced Oesophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma

  • Zhang G,
  • Yang C,
  • Zhao C,
  • Xian F,
  • Qing D,
  • Guo Q,
  • Song J,
  • Liu X,
  • Bie J

Journal volume & issue
Vol. Volume 15
pp. 101 – 112

Abstract

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Guojun Zhang,1 Chuan Yang,2 Caixia Zhao,1 Feng Xian,3 Dong Qing,1 Qiyu Guo,1 Junmei Song,1 Xilin Liu,1 Jun Bie1 1Department of Oncology, Nanchong Central Hospital and The Second Clinical Medical College of North Sichuan Medical College, Nanchong, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Oncology, Guangyuan Central Hospital, Guangyuan, People’s Republic of China; 3School of Medicine, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Jun Bie, Department of Oncology, Nanchong Central Hospital and The Second Clinical Medical College of North Sichuan Medical College, Hongguang Road, Shunqing District, Nanchong, People’s Republic of China, Email [email protected]: The neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) has been shown to have prognostic value in several common cancers. This study aimed to investigate the prognostic value of NLR in patients with advanced oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) after definitive chemoradiotherapy (dCRT).Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed on 158 patients with advanced ESCC who received dCRT from January 2012 to December 2018. The NLR for different treatment stages was calculated based on laboratory test results. The Kaplan–Meier (KM) method and Cox proportional regression model were used to analyse the relationship between NLR and overall survival (OS).Results: The mean NLR of 158 patients with ESCC was 3.403 ± 2.479. The pre-treatment NLR cut-off was 4.839, and patients were divided into the low NLR group (NLR < 4.839) and the high NLR group (NLR ≥ 4.839). NLR in patients with ESCC was related to N stage (P < 0.05). The KM analysis showed that the median OS of all enrolled patients was 29.3 months, the median OS periods of patients in the high and low NLR groups were 15.6 and 35.8 months, respectively, and the OS of the low NLR group was better than that of the high NLR group (P < 0.001). In the multivariate analysis, NLR was an independent prognostic factor that affects the prognosis of patients with ESCC receiving dCRT. Furthermore, patients who maintained a high NLR before and after treatment showed worse clinical outcomes than the other groups.Conclusion: Our findings suggest that NLR can effectively assess the prognosis of patients with advanced ESCC undergoing dCRT.Graphical Abstract: Keywords: oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma, radiochemotherapy, neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio

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