Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Multicenter Study
. 2020 Mar 7;17(5):1742.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph17051742.

Neutrophil-To-Lymphocyte and Platelet-To-Lymphocyte Ratios as Prognostic Markers of Survival in Patients with Head and Neck Tumours-Results of a Retrospective Multicentric Study

Zsuzsanna Szilasi  1 , Valéria Jósa  2 , Zsombor Zrubka  3 , Tünde Mezei  4 , Tamás Vass  5 , Keresztély Merkel  5 , Frigyes Helfferich  1 , Zsolt Baranyai  6
Affiliations
Multicenter Study

Neutrophil-To-Lymphocyte and Platelet-To-Lymphocyte Ratios as Prognostic Markers of Survival in Patients with Head and Neck Tumours-Results of a Retrospective Multicentric Study

Zsuzsanna Szilasi et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

Background: The neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and the platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) may be useful for drawing conclusions about the survival of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) patients.

Methods: Clinical data of 156 patients managed for HNSCC at two head and neck surgery centres were analyzed retrospectively. We studied the relationships between survival and PLR as well as NLR.

Results: With regards to 5-year survival, the difference between the two groups with PLR values lower or higher than the threshold was statistically significant (p = 0.004), and we found the same for disease-free survival (p = 0.05), and tumour-specific mortality (p = 0.009). Concerning NLR, the difference in tumour-specific survival was statistically significant (p = 0.006). According to the multivariate analysis, NLR values higher than the threshold indicated an enhanced risk for overall as well as for tumour-specific mortality.

Conclusion: In HNSCC patients, a high NLR may be considered as an independent risk factor for 5-year overall survival.

Keywords: head and neck neoplasms; neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio; platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio; survival.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Threshold values of PLR (A) and NLR (B).
Figure 2
Figure 2
The distribution of the platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (A), and of the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (B).
Figure 3
Figure 3
The platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (A), and the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (B) in subgroups defined according to the stage and the location of the primary tumour (T).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Five-year survival as a function of the platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (A), of the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (B), or of both markers (C).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Singh J., Jayaraj R., Baxi S., Ramamoorthi R., Thomas M. Incidence and mortality from mucosal head and neck cancers amongst Australian states and territories: What it means for the northern territory. Asian Pac. J. Cancer Prev. 2013;14:5621–5624. doi: 10.7314/APJCP.2013.14.10.5621. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Buergy D., Wenz F., Groden C., Brockmann M.A. Tumor—Platelet interaction in solid tumors. Int. J. Cancer. 2012;130:2747–2760. doi: 10.1002/ijc.27441. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Ardies C.M. Inflammation as cause for scar cancers of the lung. Integr. Cancer Ther. 2003;2:238–246. doi: 10.1177/1534735403256332. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Van der Auwera I., Van Laere S.J., Van den Eynden G.G., Benoy I., van Dam P., Colpaert C.G., Fox S.B., Turley H., Harris A.L., Van Marck E.A., et al. Increased angiogenesis and lymphangiogenesis in inflammatory versus noninflammatory breast cancer by real-time reverse transcriptase-PCR gene expression quantification. Clin. Cancer Res. Off. J. Am. Assoc. Cancer Res. 2004;10:7965–7971. doi: 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-04-0063. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Karaman H., Karaman A., Erden A., Poyrazoglu O.K., Karakukcu C., Tasdemir A. Relationship between colonic polyp type and the neutrophil/ lymphocyte ratio as a biomarker. Asian Pac. J. Cancer Prev. APJCP. 2013;14:3159–3161. doi: 10.7314/APJCP.2013.14.5.3159. - DOI - PubMed

Publication types

Substances

LinkOut - more resources