Primary Exploration Of The Clinical Value Of Neutrophil-To-Lymphocyte Ratio In Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma

Objective:An increase in the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is associated with poor prognosis for various cancers, and the elevated neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is a strong predictor of mortality in patients with gastric cancer, hepatocellular cancer, lung cancer, colorectal cancer, pancreatic cancer and etc..However, the clinical implication of the change in the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma remains unknown. Therefore, the aim of the study is to explore the clinical value of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients.Methods:One hundred and sixteen cases of confirmed NPC from January2001to January2010were reviewed retrospectively (male76cases, female40cases).The age, gender, white blood cell(WBC) counts, neutrophil counts(N), lymphocyte counts(L) of all the patients were recorded respectively,and neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio were calculated then. The age, gender, neutrophil counts, lymphocyte counts and neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio were compared among the patients with recurrence and non-recurrence, and analysed whether the factors are predictive of recurrence in nasopharyngeal carcinoma.Results:The level of NLR in recurrent group were obviously higher than those of non-recurrent group(P<0.001), the level of lymphocyte in recurrent group were obviously lower than those of non-recurrent group(P<0.05).According to the receiver-operating characteristic curves(ROC) analysis, the recurrence rate for patients with a elevated NLR(NLR>3.69) were significantly worse than that for those with a low NLR(NLR<3.69)(the recurrence rate at79.17%vs.20.59%).It had significant differences between two groups(P<0.001). The gender in recurrence group were not significant difference with no recurrence group (P>0.05).Conclusion:NLR is a new indicator of inflammatory. Elevated neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio predict poor prognosis in nasopharyngeal carcinoma, a high NLR may be a convenient biomarker to identify patients with a poor prognosis and be used in routine clinical practice. It deserves the attention of clinicians.