Clinical Significance of Dynamic Neutrophil-lymphocyte Ratio Changes in Patients With Colorectal Cancer
Naoki Ashizawa, Shinji Furuya, SHODA KATSUTOSHI, Makoto Sudo, Hidenori Akaike, Naohiro Hosomura, Yoshihiko Kawaguchi, Hidetake Amemiya, Hiromichi Kawaida, Shingo Inoue, Hiroshi Kono, Daisuke Ichikawa
Abstract
BACKGROUND/AIM: Elevated neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) has been reported to be a poor prognostic factor in patients with colorectal cancer (CRC). However, no studies have focused on the dynamic change of preoperative NLR (pre-NLR) in CRC patients. We investigated the prognostic value of the change in NLR (ΔNLR) in CRC patients before and after surgery. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed the data from 307 patients with stage II or III CRC. We compared the clinicopathological factors, OS, and DFS among the various NLR factors. RESULTS: The 5-year OS rate of the high ΔNLR group was significantly lower than that of the low ΔNLR group (p<0.01). The 5-year DFS rates of the high ΔNLR groups were worse than those in the low ΔNLR groups. In the multivariate analysis, ΔNLR was an independent prognostic factor (p=0.011). CONCLUSION: Decreasing post-NLR was related to better OS and DFS even in high pre-NLR patients with CRC.