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
. 2025 Jun 10:15:1585433.
doi: 10.3389/fonc.2025.1585433. eCollection 2025.

Prognostic significance of preoperative neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio in lung carcinoid patients after receiving curative surgery. A multicentre study

Nicola Tamburini  1 , Beatrice Aramini  2 , Ilaria Potenza  1 , Francesco Bagolini  1 , Danila Azzolina  3 , Fares Shamshoum  4 , Federico Rea  4 , Franco Stella  2 , Giampiero Dolci  1 , Enrica Pellizzer  4 , Pio Maniscalco  1 , Andrea Dell'Amore  4
Affiliations

Prognostic significance of preoperative neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio in lung carcinoid patients after receiving curative surgery. A multicentre study

Nicola Tamburini et al. Front Oncol. .

Abstract

Background: Recent evidence suggests that inflammation is relevant to carcinogenesis and tumor progression. Biomarkers of the inflammatory response are increasingly regarded as valuable prognostic indicators for enhancing predictive accuracy in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Nonetheless, the applicability of these measures in patients with pulmonary carcinoid remains uncertain.

Objectives: The primary outcome of this study was to evaluate the prognostic impact on Overall Survival (OS) of the preoperative neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), and serum C-reactive protein (CRP) in pulmonary carcinoid after complete surgical resection.

Methods: We retrospectively evaluated data from 267 patients who underwent surgery with curative intent for pulmonary carcinoid tumors between January 2010 and December 2020. Peripheral blood samples were collected preoperatively during routine preoperative tests. The univariable-unadjusted and the Inverse of Probability Weight (IPW) propensity score (PS) adjusted Cox regression models are reported to assess the association between inflammatory biomarkers and outcomes.

Results: The median follow-up duration after surgical resection was four years. Elevated NLR was the only biomarker significantly associated with worse overall survival (OS). The significant association between NLR and OS is evidenced after adjusting for potential confounders using IPW.

Conclusions: This study demonstrated a significant association between the NLR in blood samples of carcinoid patients and their survival outcomes.

Keywords: neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR); non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC); pulmonary carcinoid; serum c-reactive protein; survival & prognosis.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Propensity score-adjusted model.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Hendifar AE, Marchevsky AM, Tuli R. Neuroendocrine tumors of the lung: current challenges and advances in the diagnosis and management of well-differentiated disease. J Thorac Oncol. (2017) 12:425–36. doi: 10.1016/j.jtho.2016.11.2222 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Siegel RL, Miller KD, Fuchs HE, Jemal A. Cancer statistics, 2021. CA Cancer J Clin. (2021) 71:7–33. doi: 10.3322/caac.21654 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Dasari A, Shen C, Halperin D, Zhao B, Zhou S, Xu Y, et al. Trends in the incidence, prevalence, and survival outcomes in patients with neuroendocrine tumors in the United States. JAMA Oncol. (2017) 3:1335–42. doi: 10.1001/jamaoncol.2017.0589 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Caplin ME, Baudin E, Ferolla P, Filosso P, Garcia-Yuste M, Lim E, et al. Pulmonary neuroendocrine (carcinoid) tumors: European Neuroendocrine Tumor Society expert consensus and recommendations for best practice for typical and atypical pulmonary carcinoids. Ann Oncol. (2015) 26:1604–20. doi: 10.1093/annonc/mdv041 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Filosso PL, Rena O, Donati G, Casadio C, Ruffini E, Papalia E, et al. Bronchial carcinoid tumors: surgical management and long-term outcome. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. (2002) 123:303–9. doi: 10.1067/mtc.2002.119886 - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources