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Review
. 2016 Dec 12:10:702.
doi: 10.3332/ecancer.2016.702. eCollection 2016.

The neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio: a narrative review

Sara Socorro Faria  1 , Paulo César Fernandes Jr  2 , Marcelo José Barbosa Silva  2 , Vladmir C Lima  2 , Wagner Fontes  3 , Ruffo Freitas-Junior  4 , Agda Karina Eterovic  5 , Patrice Forget  6
Affiliations
Review

The neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio: a narrative review

Sara Socorro Faria et al. Ecancermedicalscience. .

Abstract

Cellular-mediated inflammatory response, lymphocytes, neutrophils, and monocytes are increasingly being recognised as having an important role in tumorigenesis and carcinogenesis. In this context, studies have suggested that the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) can be used as an independent prognostic factor in a variety of cancers. Particularly in breast cancer, several studies have shown that a high NLR is associated with shorter survival. Because the NLR can be easily determined from the full blood count, it could potentially provide a simple and inexpensive test cancer prognosis. This review addresses the possibilities and limitations of using the NLR as a clinical tool for risk stratification helpful for individual treatment of breast cancer patients. The potential underlying phenomena and some perspectives are discussed.

Keywords: breast cancer; inflammation; neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio; prognosis.

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