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Medical Oncology
Published in: Medical Oncology 1/2013

01-03-2013 | Original Paper

Pretreatment neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio is superior to platelet/lymphocyte ratio as a predictor of long-term mortality in breast cancer patients

Authors: Basem Azab, Neeraj Shah, Jared Radbel, Pamela Tan, Vijaya Bhatt, Steven Vonfrolio, Ayman Habeshy, Antonio Picon, Scott Bloom

Published in: Medical Oncology | Issue 1/2013

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Abstract

The aim of our study was to assess the predictive value of platelet/lymphocyte ratio (PLR) and neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR) in terms of survival in breast cancer patients. This is an observational study of 437 breast cancer patients treated between January 2004 and December 2006. Survival status was obtained from our cancer registry and Social Security Death Index. Survival analysis, stratified by NLR and PLR quartiles, was used to evaluate their prognostic values. Patients in the highest 4th PLR and NLR quartiles had higher 5-year mortality rate (30.4 and 40.3 %) compared to those in the lower three PLR and NLR quartiles (12.1 and 8.2 %), p < 0.0001. Multivariate hazard ratios of 4th PLR and NLR quartiles compared to first PLR and NLR quartiles were 3.68 (1.74–7.77, p = 0.001) and 3.67 (1.52–8.86, p = 0.004). Higher PLR only showed a trend of higher mortality in patients with normal lymphocyte count, whereas NLR continued to be statistically significant predictor of 5-year mortality in all lymphocyte count subsets. Pretreatment NLR is an independent predictor of long-term mortality in breast cancer patients, whereas pretreatment PLR was not superior to absolute lymphocyte count alone in predicting long-term mortality.
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Metadata
Title
Pretreatment neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio is superior to platelet/lymphocyte ratio as a predictor of long-term mortality in breast cancer patients
Authors
Basem Azab
Neeraj Shah
Jared Radbel
Pamela Tan
Vijaya Bhatt
Steven Vonfrolio
Ayman Habeshy
Antonio Picon
Scott Bloom
Publication date
01-03-2013
Publisher
Springer US
Published in
Medical Oncology / Issue 1/2013
Print ISSN: 1357-0560
Electronic ISSN: 1559-131X
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s12032-012-0432-4

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