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. 2013 Mar;16(1):55-9.
doi: 10.4048/jbc.2013.16.1.55. Epub 2013 Mar 31.

Usefulness of pretreatment neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio in predicting disease-specific survival in breast cancer patients

Hany Noh  1 , Minseob Eomm, Airi Han
Affiliations

Usefulness of pretreatment neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio in predicting disease-specific survival in breast cancer patients

Hany Noh et al. J Breast Cancer. 2013 Mar.

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the prognostic impact of pretreatment neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) on breast cancer in view of disease-specific survival and the intrinsic subtype.

Methods: We retrospectively studied patients diagnosed with primary breast cancer that had completed all phases of primary treatment from 2000 to 2010. The association between pretreatment NLR and disease-specific survival was analyzed.

Results: A total of 442 patients were eligible for analysis. Patients with higher NLR (2.5 ≤NLR) showed significantly lower disease-specific survival rate than those with lower NLR (NLR <2.5). Higher NLR along with negative estrogen receptor status and positive nodal status were independently correlated with poor prognosis, with hazard ratio 4.08 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.62-10.28), 9.93 (95% CI, 3.51-28.13), and 11.23 (95% CI, 3.34-37.83), respectively. Luminal A subtype was the only intrinsic subtype in which higher NLR patients showed significantly poor prognosis (87.7% vs. 96.7%, p=0.009).

Conclusion: Patients with an elevated pretreatment NLR showed poorer disease-specific survival than patients without elevated NLR, most evident in the luminal A subtype. Further validation and a feasibility study are required before it can be considered for clinical use.

Keywords: Breast neoplasms; Lymphocytes; Neutrophils.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Enrollment and outcomes. We identified 502 patients who were diagnosed and completed the treatment of breast cancer; and 442 patients were eligible for analysis. HG=histologic grade; HR=hormonal receptor; HER2=human epidermal growth factor receptor 2.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Disease-specific survival curves stratified by neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR). Kaplan-Meier estimates for disease-specific survival stratified by NLR.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Disease-specific survival curves stratified by neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) of luminal A subtype. Kaplan-Meier estimates for disease-specific survival stratified by NLR of luminal A subtype.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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