Predictive Value of the Neutrophil to Lymphocyte Ratio (NLR) to Predict the Development of Preeclampsia and Pregnancy Induced Hypertension at 1st Trimester

Introduction: Hypertensive disorder in pregnancy affects 4 to 6 percent of all pregnancies and carries risks for the both baby and the mother. Only a few groups of women who are at high-risk pregnancies are received prophylaxis Aspirin, more than 15 percent of women develop pre-eclampsia with a single minor risk factor. Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted to compare the 1st trimester NLR value of normotensive, pregnancy induced hypertensive and pre-eclamptic pregnant women. The study was conducted with a sample of 416, antenatal patients who were admitted to ward 25, at Colombo North Teaching Hospital Ragama. Data was collected as separated three groups. NLR value was calculated separately and ANOVA test was used to analyze the 3 categorical data. Post HOC test was done to assess the multiple comparison. Results: The prevalence rates of pregnancy induced hypertension and pre-eclampsia among the pregnant women were 8.6% and 5.7%. The mean NLR values of normotensive group was 2.708, pregnancy induced hypertensive group was 2.650 and pre eclamptic group was 3.789. There was a significant difference in NLR value between pre eclamptic group and other two groups with P value of Conclusion: The 1st trimester NLR value of pre eclamptic patients significantly increased compared to normotensive women.

Prognostic value of circulating tumor cells combined with neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma

BACKGROUND Circulating tumor cell(CTC)count and neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio(NLR)are both closely associated with the prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC).AIM To investigate the prognostic value of combining these two indicators in HCC.METHODS Clinical data were collected from patients with advanced HCC who received im-mune therapy combined with targeted therapy at the Department of Oncology,the Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University,Sichuan,China,from 2021 to 2023.The optimal cutoff values for CTC programmed death-ligand 1(PD-L1)(+)>1 or CTC PD-L1(+)≤1 and NLR>3.89 or NLR≤3.89 were evaluated using X-Tile software.Patients were categorized into three groups based on CTC PD-L1(+)counts and NLR:CTC-NLR(0),CTC-NLR(1),and CTC-NLR(2).The relationship between CTC-NLR and clinical variables as well as survival rates was assessed.RESULTS Patients with high CTC PD-L1(+)expression or NLR at baseline had shorter median progression-free survival(m-PFS)and median overall survival(mOS)than those with low levels of CTC PD-L1(+)or NLR(P<0.001).Mean-while,patients in the CTC-NLR(2)group showed a significant decrease in mPFS and mOS.Cox regression analysis revealed that alpha-fetoprotein(AFP),CTC PD-L1(+),and CTC-NLR were independent predictors of OS.The time-dependent receiver operating characteristic curve showed that the area under the curve of CTC-NLR at 12 months(0.821)and 18 months(0.821)was superior to that of AFP and CTC PD-L1(+).CONCLUSION HCC patients with high CTC PD-L1(+)or NLR expression tend to exhibit poor prognosis,and a high baseline CTC-NLR score may indicate low survival.CTC-NLR may serve as an effective prognostic indicator for patients with advanced HCC receiving immunotherapy combined with targeted therapy.

Prognostic Value of Neutrophil to Lymphocyte Ratio in Acute Myeloid Leukemia

Objective: Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a heterogeneous, hematologic malignancy at which short survival may be seen. Our study aims to evaluate the effect of the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) on the course of the disease, response to therapy, and overall survival (OS). Materials and Methods: A total of 124 patients followed-up with the diagnosis of AML from 2016 to 2019 were retrospectively examined. Results: 69 of the cases (55.6%) were men and 55 (44.3%) were women. The average age at the time of diagnosis was 53.44 ± 30.3 years old. We determined the NLR as median 0.46 (0.16 - 1.1). In AML, 69 patients were responsive to the induction regimen (57.9%) while 46 patients were unresponsive (37.8%). 5 patients died before completing the regimen. D-dimer was found to be higher and fibrinogen was found to be lower in the responsive group. Lower OS was observed in cases of >60 years of age, male gender, non-APL AML, high NLR, and recurrence at diagnosis. Recurrences were detected in 23 patients (18.5%) and the median time to the recurrence was 416 (236 - 639) days. Fibrinogen level and the bone marrow blast ratio at the time of application were determined to be associated with recurrence. The median follow-up time was 856 (143 - 1276) days. Final condition analysis reveals that 74 patients (59.6%) are alive. Conclusion: We determined in our study that the NLR is effective on survival. Medical literature on this subject is scanty and prospective studies with large patient groups are needed.

Pretreatment Neutrophil/Lymphocytes Ratio in Non-Metastatic Colon Cancer as a Prognostic and Predictive Factor: A Retrospective Study

Background: In developed countries, colon cancer is the second most prevalent cancer, only exceeded by prostate cancer in men and breast cancer in women. After Hepatocellular carcinoma, breast cancer, bladder cancer, lung cancer, Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma and brain tumors, colon cancer is the 7th most common cancer in Egypt, in both sexes, representing 3.47% and 3%, in both male and female cancers, respectively. Aim of the Work: The aim of this study was to evaluate the prognostic and predictive significance of pretreatment Neutrophil/lymphocytes ratio (NLR), in terms of disease-free survival (DFS) and recurrence, in high-risk stage II and stage III Colorectal cancer patients who underwent curative resection. Patients and Methods: We retrospectively evaluated 103 patients, who were submitted to upfront surgery as first therapeutic option in curative intent, between January 2017 and December 2018. Pretreatment Neutrophil/lymphocytes ratio (NLR), as well as demographics, clinical, histopathologic, and laboratory data were analyzed. Univariate and multivariate analyses were conducted to identify prognostic factors associated with disease free survival (DFS) and recurrence. Results: The cutoff point of Neutrophils/lymphocytes ratio (NLR) was calculated with Kaplan-Meier curves and log-rank test to 3. This study revealed that neutrophils/lymphocytes ratio (NLR) was significantly associated with disease free survival (p as no difference in efficacy between both chemotherapy regimens FOLFOX and XELOX in both high-risk stage II and stage III colon cancer regarding disease free survival & the toxicity profile associated with each regimen and its grades between patients. Conclusion: Our study suggests that preoperative Neutrophils/lymphocytes ratio (NLR) more than 3 may be an independent prognostic marker for TTR (time to recurrence) in high-risk stage II and stage III colon cancer patients.

Is the neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio associated with liver fibrosis in patients with chronic hepatitis B?

AIM: To determine the association between the neutrophil to lymphocyte(N/L) ratio and the degree of liver fibrosis in patients with chronic hepatitis B(CHB) infection. METHODS: Between December 2011 and February 2013, 129 consecutive CHB patients who were admitted to the study hospitals for histological evaluation of chronic hepatitis B-related liver fibrosis were included in this retrospective study. The patients were divided into two groups based on the fibrosis score: individuals with a fibrosis score of F0 or F1 were included in the "no/minimal liver fibrosis" group, whereas patients with a fibrosis score of F2, F3, or F4 were included in the "advanced liver fibrosis" group. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences 18.0 for Windows was used to analyze the data. A P value of < 0.05 was accepted as statistically significant.RESULTS: Three experienced and blinded pathologists evaluated the fibrotic status and inflammatory activity of 129 liver biopsy samples from the CHB patients. Following histopathological examination, the "no/minimal fibrosis" group included 79 individuals, while the "advanced fibrosis" group included 50 individuals. Mean(N/L) ratio levels were notably lower in patients with advanced fibrosis when compared with patients with no/minimal fibrosis. The mean value of the aspartate aminotransferase-platelet ratio index was markedly higher in cases with advanced fibrosis compared to those with no/minimal fibrosis.CONCLUSION: Reduced levels of the peripheral blood N/L ratio were found to give high sensitivity, specificity and predictive values in CHB patients with significant fibrosis. The prominent finding of our research suggests that the N/L ratio can be used as a novel noninvasive marker of fibrosis in patients with CHB.

Significance of the preoperative neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio in the prognosis of patients with gastric cancer

AIM: To investigate the significance of the preoperative neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio(NLR) in the prognosis of patients with gastric cancer(GC). METHODS: The clinical data of 291 GC patients were analysed retrospectively; these patients were divided into two groups according to their preoperative NLR: a high-NLR group(NLR ≥ 3.5, 131 cases) and a low-NLR group(NLR < 3.5, 160 cases). The clinicopathological characteristics and five-year survival rates of the two groups were compared. The NLR and other clinicopathological factors were subjected to univariate and multivariate survival analysis to evaluate the effects of the NLR on the prognosis of GC patients. RESULTS: The lowest preoperative NLR among the 291 patients was 0.56, whereas the highest preoperative NLR was 74.5. The mean preoperative NLR was 5.99 ± 8.98. Age, tumour size, T staging, tumour-node-metastasis(TNM) staging and platelet count were significantly different between the highand low-NLR groups(P < 0.05). The five-year survival rate of the high-NLR group was 17.0%, which was significantly lower than that of the low-NLR group(43.6%; 17.0% vs 43.6%, P < 0.05). The univariate analysis results showed that the five-year survival rate was related to age, tumour size, T staging, N staging, TNM staging, carcinoembryonic antigen value and NLR(P < 0.05). Multivariate analysis results showed that the NLR was an independent risk factor that likely affected the five-year survival rate of GC patients(P = 0.003, HR = 0.626, 95%CI: 0.460-0.852). CONCLUSION: The preoperative NLR could be used as a prognostic factor for GC patients; in particular, a high NLR corresponded to poor prognosis of GC patients.

Neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio predicts the prognosis of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma after liver transplantation

AIM:To determine whether an elevated neutrophillymphocyte ratio(NLR)is negatively associated with tumor recurrence in patients with hepatitis B virus(HBV)-related hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC)after liver transplantation(LT),and to determine the optimal predictive NLR cut-off value.METHODS:The data of HCC patients who had undergone LT came from the China Liver Transplant Registry database.We collected data from 326 liver cancer patients who had undergone LT at our medical center.We divided the patients into groups based on their NLRs(3,4 or 5).We then compared the clinicopathological data and long-time survival between these groups.Meanwhile,we used receiver operating characteristic analysis to determine the optimal NLR cut-off.RESULTS:Of 280 HCC patients included in this study,263 were HBV positive.Patients with an NLR<3 and patients with an NLR≥3 but<4 showed no significant differences in overall survival(OS)(P=0.212)or disease-free survival(DFS)(P=0.601).Patients with an NLR≥4 but<5 and patients with an NLR≥5also showed no significant differences in OS(P=0.208)or DFS(P=0.618).The 1-,3-and 5-year OS rates of patients with an NLR<4 vs an NLR≥4 were 87.8%,63.8%and 61.5%vs 73.9%,36.7%and 30.3%,respectively(P<0.001).The 1-,3-and 5-year DFS rates of patients with an NLR<4 vs NLR≥4 were 83.9%,62.9%and 60.7%vs 64.9%,30.1%and 30.1%,respectively(P<0.001).Univariate and multivariate analyses demonstrated that three factors,including NLR≥4(P=0.002),were significant predictors of tumor recurrence in HCC patients after LT.CONCLUSION:A preoperative elevated NLR significantly increased the risk for tumor recurrence in HCC patients after LT.

Neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio is useful for the prognosis of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma

There is increasing evidence that neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio(NLR)may play a role in predicting recurrence in patients with hepatitis B virus-related hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC)after liver transplantation.In the original study by Yan et al,it was aimed to determine whether an elevated NLR is associated with tumor recurrence.Total tumor size(>9 cm)and macro-vascular invasion were found to be more significant than NLR according to the multivariate logistic regression analysis.Therefore,substantive significance should be emphasized rather than NLR because total tumor size and macro-vascular invasion are easier and more expressive than NLR in assessing HCC recurrence.NLR and platelet-lymphocyte ratio(PLR)are markers which are easy to obtain and can be used as inflammation indicators.Moreover,assessment of both NLR and PLR may add some value as a good predictor of risk for post-liver transplantation HCC recurrence.However,while the study was constructed on whole blood analysis,further details about the features and performance characteristics of the whole-blood analyzer,and preanalytical/analytical variables should also be mentioned.

Combined Hangzhou criteria with neutrophillymphocyte ratio is superior to other criteria in selecting liver transplantation candidates with HBV-related hepatocellular carcinoma

BACKGROUND： The elevation of neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio （NLR） has adverse effects on the prognosis of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma （HCC） who have received liver transplantation （LT）. The Hangzhou criteria are set for selecting HCC patients for LT. The present study aimed to establish a set of new criteria combining the NLR and Hangzhou crite- ria for selecting HCC patients for LT.

The Impact of Neutrophil to Lymphocytic Ratio (NLR) as a Predictor of Treatment Outcomes in Rectal Carcinomas: A Retrospective Cohort Study

Background and aim: The prognostic role of neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) has been shown in many solid tumors included in a recent meta-analysis of one hundred studies. We aimed to evaluate the prognostic value of neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio in treatment outcomes;response and survival of patients with different stages of rectal cancers. Patients and methods: All patients with pathologically confirmed cancer rectum presented to our department during the period from January 2012 to the end of 2014 were included in this retrospective study, these recruited patients were evaluated through their files to determine different objectives of our study. Results: The median overall survival was 31 ± 4.676 months while disease free survival was 40 ± 2.346 for the whole study group;neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio was negatively correlated with overall survival with r = –0.743, P disease free survival with r = –0.717, P total number of lymph nodes dissected ratio with r = +0.254, P = 0.028. Roc curve was used to find the accurate cut point of NLR for these patients and was found to be of 4.5. Conclusion: Elevated pre-treatment NLR is an independent predictor of shorter survival in patients with rectal cancer. This parameter is a simple, easily accessible laboratory test for identifying patients with poorer prognosis.

Prognostic value of the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio for hepatocellular carcinoma patients with portal/hepatic vein tumor thrombosis

AIM To investigate whether the preoperative neutrophil-tolymphocyte ratio(NLR) could predict the prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC) patients with portal/hepatic vein tumor thrombosis(PVTT/HVTT) after hepatectomy.METHODS The study population included 81 HCC patients who underwent hepatectomy and were diagnosed with PVTT/HVTT based on pathological examination. The demographics, laboratory analyses, and histopathology data were analyzed.RESULTS Overall survival(OS) and disease-free survival(DFS) were determined in the patients with a high(> 2.9) and low(≤ 2.9) NLR. The median OS and DFS duration in the high NLR group were significantly shorter than those in the low NLR group(OS: 6.2 mo vs 15.7 mo, respectively, P = 0.007; DFS: 2.2 mo vs 3.7 mo, respectively, P = 0.039). An NLR > 2.9 was identified as an independent predictor of a poor prognosis of OS(P = 0.034, HR = 1.866; 95%CI: 1.048-3.322) in uni-and multivariate analyses. Moreover, there was a significantly positive correlation between the NLR and the Child-Pugh score(r = 0.276, P = 0.015) and the maximum diameter of the tumor(r = 0.435, P < 0.001). Additionally, the NLR could enhance the prognostic predictive power of the CLIP score for DFS in these patients. CONCLUSION The preoperative NLR is a prognostic predictor after hepatectomy for HCC patients with PVTT/HVTT. NLR > 2.9 indicates poorer OS and DFS.

The relation between differential leukocyte count, neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio and the presence and severity of coronary artery disease

Objectives: Total leukocyte count, a marker of inflammation has long been reported to be related with coronary artery disease (CAD). Recently, differenttial leukocyte count and elevated neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (N/L) has been shown to indicate an increased long-term risk of mortality in patients with stable CAD, myocardial infarction and undergoing cardiovascular surgery. Thses studies offer incremental prognostic value to total leukocyte count. We sought to determine the relationship between the leukocyte subtypes and N/L ratio and the presence and extent of CAD. Study design: The study consisted of 107 patients [70 (65.4%) men, 37 (34.6%) women, mean age 59.5 ± 10.6 years] referred to coronary angiography with suspected CAD. The subjects were classified into two groups according to the presence of significant CAD and the extent of CAD was determined by the Gensini method. Results: The lymphocyte count was found to be lower (2031 ± 741 cells/μL vs 2392 ± 611 cells/μL, p: 0.010) and the N/L ratio was found to be higher in patients with CAD (2.86 ± 1.57 vs 2.04 ± 1.01, p p: 0.005]. Conclusion: Our findings reveal that N/L ratio, a simple marker which can be derived from a routine complete blood count test was significantly and independently related to presence and severity of coronary atherosclerosis.

Usefulness of the Pediatric Appendicitis Score and Neutrophil to Lymphocyte Ratio for Assessing the Complicated Appendicitis in Children

Introduction: Acute appendicitis (AA) is a common surgical disease which occurs in almost all age groups, and especially in childhood. Acute appendicitis is one of the most common causes of acute abdomen. The lifetime occurrence of this disease is approximately 7%, with perforation rate of up to 20%. In spite of the well-known classical symptoms and clinical findings of acute appendicitis, early diagnosis can be sometimes challenging. For the treatment of simple appendicitis (SA) in children, the effectiveness of antibiotic treatment has been reported. We aimed to determine predictive value of combination NLR and PAS in pediatric patients with clinical suspicion of acute appendicitis and complicated appendicitis Methods: Our study was performed on 480 children admitted for suspected acute appendicitis and underwent appendectomy at the MNCMCH, Ulaanbaatar Mongolia, between May 2019 and December 2019. White blood count (WBC), Neutrophil, NLR and PAS were compared between groups. Results: The sensitivity, specificity, PPV, NPV of PAS + NLR for differentiating complicated and noncomplicated appendicitis were 86.8%, 89.4%, 92.1% and 76% respectively. The sensitivity, specificity, PPV, NPV of PAS + NLR for diagnosis of acute appendicitis were 90.5%, 68.1%, 97.68% and 32.6% respectively. Conclusion: In the era of conservative antibiotic-based management of uncomplicated acute appendicitis, we advocate that combination of NLR and PAS is a useful aid in predicting complicated appendicitis.

The combined prognostic value of pretreatment neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio, and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio in stage IE/IIE extranodal natural killer/T-cell lymphoma

Objective This study aimed to explore the combined prognostic value of pretreatment neutrophil-tolymphocyte ratio(NLR), lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio(LMR), and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio(PLR) in newly diagnosed IE/IIE extranodal natural killer/T-cell lymphoma(ENKTL) treated with a P-Gemox regimen combined with radiotherapy or radiotherapy alone.Methods A total of 132 patients from 2009 to 2017 at the Sichuan Cancer Hospital were enrolled in the study. The cutoff values of NLR, LMR, and PLR using overall survival(OS) rate as an endpoint were obtained by the receiver operating curve. Results The cutoff value of NLR was 3.5. Patients with high NLR had significantly shorter progressionfree survival(PFS)(P < 0.001) and OS(P < 0.001) than those with low NLR. Similarly, the cutoff value of LMR was 3.0. The high LMR group had significantly longer PFS(P=0.001) and OS(P < 0.001) than the low LMR group. Similarly, the cutoff value of PLR was 191.7. The high PLR group was significantly associated with poor PFS(P < 0.001) and OS(P < 0.001) than the low PLR group. Furthermore, combining NLR, LMR, and PLR to build a new model to stratify patients into low-, intermediate-, intermediate-high-, and high-risk groups, there were also significant differences in PFS(P < 0.001) and OS(P < 0.001). The univariate analysis showed that presenting B symptoms, stage IIE, local tumor invasion, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group score ≥ 2, elevated lactate dehydrogenase level, elevated NLR, decreased LMR, and elevated PLR were significantly associated with poor survival. The multivariate analysis demonstrated that PLR was an independent prognostic factor for both PFS(hazard ratio [HR]= 2.073, 95% confidence interval [CI]= 1.080–3.981, P = 0.028) and OS(HR = 2.127, 95% CI = 1.102–4.107, P = 0.025).Conclusion Elevated pretreatment PLR was a novel simple predictor of poor survival in patients with stage IE/IIE ENKTL. Combining NLR, LMR, and PLR could provide additional stratification.

The preoperative neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio predicts the outcomes of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma and cirrhosis after hepatectomy

Objective The aim of the study was to investigate the prognostic value of the preoperative peripheral neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio(NLR) in patients with hepatocellular cancer(HCC) and cirrhosis after hepatectomy. Methods This retrospective study included 321 patients with HCC who underwent resection. The NLR was calculated using the neutrophil and lymphocyte counts in routine preoperative blood tests. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was performed to select the most appropriate NLR cutoff value. The preoperative NLR, patient demographics, and clinical and pathological data, including disease-free survival(DFS) and overall survival(OS), were analyzed. Results The NLR was correlated with alpha-fetoprotein levels(χ2 = 5.876, P = 0.015), tumor size(χ2 = 32.046, P < 0.001), portal vein tumor thrombus(PVTT; χ2 = 4.930, P = 0.026), tumor encapsulation(χ2 = 7.243, P = 0.007), and recurrence(χ2 = 7.717, P = 0.005). Multivariate analyses illustrated that the number of tumors, PVTT, tumor size, and the NLR were independent factors for predicting DFS and OS. In patients with HCC and cirrhosis, but not among those without cirrhosis, a larger NLR predicted poorer postoperative DFS and OS(both P < 0.001). Conclusion As a simple, effective independent predictor for patients with HCC, the preoperative NLR plays an important role in accurately predicting the postoperative outcomes of patients with HCC and cirrhosis, but not those of patients without cirrhosis.

The Importance of Neutrophil to Lymphocyte Ratio and Peripheral Blood Eosinophilia in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Patients with Acute Exacerbation: Recent Studies

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a chronic, progressive respiratory disease and the third leading cause of respiratory disease mortality. The diagnosis of COPD is changed to acute exacerbation of COPD (AECOPD) when respiratory symptoms become worse, beyond normal day-to-day variations and severely enough that changes in medication are required. Both neutrophils to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and peripheral blood eosinophilia (PBE) are rapid and relatively inexpensive tests that can be easily applied in the clinical practice for the diagnosis and treatment of AECOPD patients. Furthermore, current studies found that NLR and PBE had a higher accuracy rate than other traditional markers (Leukocyte count and C-reactive protein) for the diagnosis and management of AECOPD. Besides, recent studies determined that NLR and PBE can be used for prediction of future exacerbations in COPD patients. This review aims to explore the current knowledge about the significance of NLR and PBE in AECOPD patients.

Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio in occlusive vascular diseases： the literature review of the past 10 years

BACKGROUND: This study aims to evaluate the results of studies investigating neutrophilto-lymphocyte ratio(NLR) and to identify the prognostic and diagnostic value of NLR in occlusive vascular diseases.METHODS: With the aim of identifying the studies related to NLR, a search was performed on http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed by using the key words "neutrophil lymphocyte ratio" between January 2005 and December 2014. All of the original articles were evaluated according to date of publications, countries, clinics and topics. Studies about occlusive vascular diseases were evaluated according to their qualifications, review methods and results. SPSS for Windows 16.0 was used in data analysis and data were expressed as mean, standard deviation and percentage.RESULTS: A total of 735 original research articles were investigated. The number of publications have shown a regular logarithmic increase over the years. Thirty-two percent of all publications were performed by clinics in Turkey and 56.4% were performed by general-oncological surgery and cardiology clinics. A total of 107 publications were identified to be about occlusive vascular diseases, 80.3% of these publications were found to be prognostic and 19.6% to be diagnostic, 82.2% of them were found to be planned as retrospective and 17.7% as prospective. In 95.3% of prognostic publications, there was a positive correlation between high NLR values at admission and poor prognosis. In 95.3% of diagnostic publications high NLR values at admission were identifi ed to be signifi cant diagnostically.CONCLUSION: Elevated neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio at admission, could be used as a diagnostic and/or prognostic parameter in occlusive vascular diseases.

Prognostic significance of neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio in pancreatic cancer: A meta-analysis

AIM:To conduct a meta-analysis evaluating theassociation between the peripheral blood neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio(NLR) and the outcome of patients with pancreatic cancer.METHODS:Studies evaluating the relationship between the peripheral blood NLR and outcome of patients with pancreatic cancer published up to May 2014 were searched using electronic databases, including Pub Med, Web of Science, Embase and Ovid.A meta-analysis was performed to pool the hazard ratios(HRs) or odds ratios(ORs) and their 95% confidence intervals(CIs) using either a fixed-effects model or a random-effects model to quantitatively assess the prognostic value of NLR and its association with clinicopathological parameters.RESULTS:Eleven studies containing a total of 1804 patients were eligible according to our selection criteria, and combined hazard ratios indicated that high NLR was a poor prognostic marker for pancreatic cancer patients because it had an unfavorable impact on the overall survival(OS)(HR =2.61, 95%CI:1.68-4.06, P =0.000) and cancer specific survival(HR =1.66, 95%CI:1.08-2.57, P =0.021).Subgroup analysis revealed that high NLR was associated with poor OS in patients with mixed treatment(HR =4.36, 95%CI:2.50-7.61, P =0.000), chemotherapy(HR =2.08, 95%CI:1.49-2.9, P =0.000), or surgical resection(HR =1.2, 95%CI:1.00-1.44, P =0.048).Additionally, high NLR was significantly correlated with tumor metastasis(OR =1.69, 95%CI:1.10-2.59, P =0.016), poor tumor differentiation(OR =2.75, 95%CI:1.19-6.36, P =0.016), poor performance status(OR =2.56, 95%CI:1.63-4.03, P =0.000), high cancer antigen 199(OR =2.62, 95%CI:1.49-4.60, P =0.000), high C-reactive protein(OR =4.32, 95%CI:2.71-6.87, P =0.000), and low albumin(OR =3.56, 95%CI:1.37-9.27, P =0.009).CONCLUSION:High peripheral blood NLR suggested a poor prognosis for patients with pancreatic cancer,and it could be a novel marker of survival evaluation and could help clinicians develop therapeutic strategies for pancreatic cancer patients.

Prognostic Value of Neutrophil to Lymphocyte Ratio for In-hospital Mortality in Elderly Patients with Acute Myocardial Infarction

Coronary artery disease （CAD） is a multifactorial disease in which inflammation plays a central role. This study aimed to investigate the association of inflammatory markers such as the neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio （NLR）, the Global Registry of Acute Coronary Events （GRACE） score with in-hospital mortality of elderly patients with acute myocardial infarction （AMI） in an attempt to explore the prognostic value of these indices for elderly AMI patients. One thousand consecutive CAD patients were divided into two groups based on age 60. The laboratory and clinical characteristics were assessed retrospectively by reviewing the medical records. The NLR and GRACE score were calculated. In the elderly （〉60 years）, patients with non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction （NSTEMI） and ST-elevation myocardial infarction （STEMI） had significantly higher NLR than did those with unstable angina （UA） and stable angina pectoris （SAP） （P〈0.01）. The NLR was considerably elevated in older AMI patients compared with their younger counterparts （〈60 years） （P〈0.05）. In elderly AMI patients, the NLR was considerably higher in the high-risk group than in both the low-risk and mediumrisk groups based on the GRACE score （P〈0.05 and P〈0.01, respectively）, and the NLR was positively correlated with the GRACE score （r=0.322, P〈0.001）. Either the NLR level or the GRACE score was significantly higher in the death group than in the surviving group （P〈0.05）. By curve receiver operator characteristic curve （ROC） analysis, the optimal cut-off levels of 9.41 for NLR and 174 for GRACE score predicted in-hospital death [ROC area under the curve （AUC） 0.771 and 0.787, respectively, P〈0.001]. It was concluded that an elevated NLR is a potential predictor of in-hospital mortality in elderly patients with AMI.