Systemic Neutrophil-to-Lymphocyte Ratio as a Prognostic Biomarker for Colon Cancer

Abstract

Prior research linked a high preoperative neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) to a worse prognosis in individuals with a variety of malignancies. This study aimed to establish the prognostic and predictive usefulness of preoperative NLR in colorectal cancer (CRC) patients and to identify an appropriate cut-off value for the NLR. We enrolled a total of 195 patients that underwent surgery for stage II and III colorectal cancer that required adjuvant chemotherapy as well as stage IV colorectal cancer patients treated with palliative intent. The mean NLR value was 3.42 ± 2.27. We used a receiver operating characteristic curve to estimate the optimum NLR cut-off value at 3. Patients with a NLR value above 3 were classified as high-NLR, while patients with a NLR below 3 were classified as low-NLR; Overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) were significantly reduced in high-NLR patients. The overall response rate (ORR) was also lower in high-NLR patients. Preoperative NLR is an accessible measurement that seems to have prognostic and predictive value in patients with colorectal cancer.