Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio as a prognostic factor in patients during palliative treatment of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma with a FOLFIRINOX regimen

Abstract

Introduction. Difficulties in advanced pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) treatment require a constant search for novel prognostic factors. The aim of this study is to determine the role of various morphological parameters in predicting the prognosis of advanced PDAC during systemic therapy with a FOLFIRINOX regimen. Material and methods. The data of 52 patients, treated with FOLFIRINOX chemotherapy due to metastatic PDAC were analyzed retrospectively in this study. Results. The median time of overall survival (OS) in the group of patients with neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) ≥3 was 5.8 months, compared to 14.5 months in patients with NLR < 3. Median progression-free survival (PFS) in patients with NLR ≥ 3 was 4.1 months, compared to 8.5 months in patients with NLR < 3. There were no statistically significant differences among patients concerning the lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio (LMR) and platelets-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR). Conclusions. Higher NLR is a negative prognostic factor in metastatic PDAC.