Prognostic Use of Pretreatment Hematologic Parameters in Patients Receiving Definitive Chemoradiotherapy for Cervical Cancer

• Published in: International journal of gynecological cancer Vol. 26; no. 6; p. 1169
• Main Authors: Onal, Cem, Guler, Ozan C, Yildirim, Berna A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England 01-07-2016
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Antineoplastic Agents - administration & dosage; Blood Platelets - pathology; Brachytherapy; Chemoradiotherapy; Cisplatin - administration & dosage; Female; Humans; Lymphocytes - pathology; Middle Aged; Neutrophils - pathology; Prognosis; Radiotherapy, Conformal; Treatment Outcome; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms - blood; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms - drug therapy; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms - radiotherapy; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms - therapy; Young Adult
• ISSN: 1525-1438
• DOI: 10.1097/IGC.0000000000000741

The aim of this work was to evaluate the prognostic role of pretreatment neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) in recipients of definitive chemoradiotherapy (ChRT) for cervical cancer.
In 235 patients given definitive ChRT for histologically confirmed cervical cancer, clinical data and pretreatment complete blood cell counts were analyzed. Prognostic and therapeutic ramifications of NLR and PLR were assessed.
Median pretreatment NLR and PLR were 3.03 (range, 1.04-13.03) and 133.02 (range, 36.3-518.16), respectively. Both NLR and PLR correlated significantly with tumor size, lymph node metastasis, and treatment response. In addition to NLR and PLR, tumor stage, size, and nodal metastasis were identified by univariate analysis as significant predictors of overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS). By multivariate analysis, independent predictors of OS and PFS were NLR (OS: hazard ratio [HR], 3.322; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.905-5.790; PFS: HR, 3.579; 95% CI, 2.106-6.082; both P < 0.001) and lymph node metastasis (OS: HR, 2.620; 95% CI, 1.706-4.023; PFS: HR, 2.989; 95% CI, 1.918-4.378; both P < 0.001), although patients' age (HR, 1.019; 95% CI, 1.003-1.035; P = 0.02) was also significantly predictive of OS.
Pretreatment NLR and PLR were associated with larger tumors, lymph node metastasis, and poorer therapeutic responses to definitive ChRT. By multivariate analysis, pretreatment NLR and lymph node metastasis were found independently predictive of OS and PFS, whereas patients' age was significantly predictive of OS only. In patients with advanced cervical cancer, NLR is a potential biomarker, serving to guide systemic therapy and predict treatment outcomes.