Inflammatory blood markers as prognostic and predictive factors in early breast cancer patients receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy

Abstract

Background: Inflammatory blood markers, such as neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelet to lymphocyte ratio (PLR), have been reported as putative prognostic factors for survival and predictive factors for pathological complete response and toxicity in cancers, however with conflicting results. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed data of 280 patients with early breast cancer receiving neo-adjuvant chemotherapy between 2005 and 2013 in our center. Neutrophil count, lymphocyte count and platelet count before treatment were collected as well as data on pathological complete response, toxicity, recurrence and survival. Results: In multivariate analysis, high PLR was an independent prognostic factor for relapse-free survival (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.91; 95%CI = 1.15–3.16; p = 0.012) and for shorter overall survival (HR = 1.83; 95%CI = 1.03–3.24; p = 0.039). NLR was an independent predictive factor for febrile neutropenia (HR = 0.28; 95%CI = 0.13–0.58; p = 0.001). In triple negative breast cancer molecular subtype, low white blood cell count (<6.75 G/L) was predictive for a higher pathological complete response rate (odds ratio [OR] = 0.29; 95%CI = 0.14–0.61; p < 0.01). Conclusion: In the present study, PLR was found as an independent prognostic factor for survival, while NLR was an independent predictive factor for febrile neutropenia.