In Pancreatic Cancer, Blood Neutrophil-Lymphocyte Ratio Predicts Survival

the Cancer Therapy Advisor take:

Baseline and post-chemotherapy neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) change are potential biomarkers for overall survival in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer undergoing chemotherapy, according to a study published in the Annals of Surgical Oncology.

Researchers at the Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center in China retrospectively examined 403 patients who had undergone chemotherapy for advanced pancreatic adenocarcinoma from 2002 to 2013. They wanted to determine the prognostic role of NLR in these patients.

The researchers performed univariate and multivariate analyses in order to identify clinicopathological predictors of overall survival that included baseline NLR and post-chemotherapy NLR.

They found that both baseline NLR and post-chemotherapy NLR change were independent prognostic factors in overall survival.

NLR of 3.1 or greater before chemotherapy as well as NLR post-chemotherapy change were both significantly associated with distant metastasis, serum CA19-9 levels and serum albumin levels.