Frontiers in Oncology (Jun 2023)

Pre-diagnostic prognostic value of leukocytes count and neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio in patients who develop colorectal cancer

  • Giulia Turri,
  • Simone Caligola,
  • Stefano Ugel,
  • Cristian Conti,
  • Silvia Zenuni,
  • Valeria Barresi,
  • Andrea Ruzzenente,
  • Giuseppe Lippi,
  • Aldo Scarpa,
  • Vincenzo Bronte,
  • Alfredo Guglielmi,
  • Corrado Pedrazzani

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fonc.2023.1148197
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 13

Abstract

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IntroductionEmerging evidence is pointing towards a relevant role of immunity in cancer development. Alterations in leukocytes count and neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) at diagnosis of colorectal cancer (CRC) seems to predict poor prognosis, but no data is available for the pre-diagnostic values.MethodsRetrospective analysis of patients who underwent surgery for CRC at our center (2005 – 2020). 334 patients with a complete blood count dating at least 24 months prior to diagnosis were included. Changes in pre-diagnosis values of leukocytes (Pre-Leu), lymphocytes (Pre-Lymph), neutrophils (Pre-Neut), and NLR (Pre-NLR) and their correlation with overall- (OS) and cancer-related survival (CRS) were analyzed.ResultsPre-Leu, Pre-Neut and Pre-NLR showed an increasing trend approaching the date of diagnosis, while Pre-Lymph tended to decrease. The parameters were tested for associations with survival after surgery through multivariable analysis. After adjusting for potential confounding factors, Pre-Leu, Pre-Neut, Pre-Lymph and Pre-NLR resulted independent prognostic factors for OS and CRS. On sub-group analysis considering the interval between blood sampling and surgery, higher Pre-Leu, Pre-Neut, and Pre-NLR and lower Pre-Lymph were associated with worse CRS, and the effect was more evident when blood samples were closer to surgery.ConclusionTo our knowledge, this is the first study showing a significant correlation between pre-diagnosis immune profile and prognosis in CRC.

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