Predictive value of peripheral blood neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio in radiotherapeutic efficacy for NSCLC patients

Abstract

Objective To investigate the predictive value of neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) in the peripheral blood and its changes (ΔNLR) after radiotherapy in advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. Methods The clinical data of 70 patients with advanced NSCLC who received simple radiotherapy in our hospital from March 2011 to June 2016 with complete follow-up data were retrospectively analyzed. The patients were divided into 2 groups based on the short-term efficacy: the radiotherapy sensitivity (PR+CR) group and non-sensitivity (SD+PD) group. They were also divided into 2 groups based on the long-term efficacy with median progression-free survival (PFS) as the critical value. Blood routine test was carried out before and after radiotherapy, and the results was compared between the 2 groups. Then with NLR as the critical value, the patients were divided into 2 groups. Differences in short-term efficacy were compared between those with increased NLR and those with decreased NLR. Results Before radiotherapy, NLR and other blood cell parameters had no correlation with radiosensitivity or PFS (P>0.05). After radiotherapy, NLR and ΔNLR were negatively correlated with short-term efficacy (P 0.5, P < 0.001). Conclusion After radiotherapy both NLR and ΔNLR can be used as predictive indicators for the short-term efficacy of radiotherapy in NSCLC patients.

Keywords

• non-small cell lung cancer
• neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio
• δnlr
• radiotherapy