The association of pre-treatment peripheral blood markers with survival in patients with pancreatic cancer.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of the study is to assess the prognostic value of pretreatment lymphocyte, neutrophil, platelet counts, mean platelet volume (MPV), platelet to lymphocyte ratio (PLR) and neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) in patients with pancreatic cancer.


METHODS
A total of 65 eligible patients were included in the study and retrospectively reviewed. Pre-treatment hematological parameters (platelet, lymphocyte, neutrophil counts, and mean platelet volume) and tumor marker (CA 19-9) levels were recorded. NLR was calculated by dividing the neutrophil count value by the number of lymphocytes. PLR was also calculated in a similar manner by dividing the platelet count value by the number of lymphocytes.


RESULTS
One-year survival was 22.3% and the median survival time was 7 months (95% CI, 5.7-8.2) in the study group. Patients with a NLR value of < 5 had a significantly higher median survival duration compared to those with a NLR value of > or = 5 (p = 0.015). All other hematological variables were not significantly different.


CONCLUSIONS
In patients with pancreatic cancer, pretreatment NLR may be use as a prognostic factor in pancreatic cancer patients. Further studies with larger patient cohorts are warranted to to better clarify the prognostic value of pre-treatment peripheral blood counts in patients with cancer.
Aliustaoglu
Mehmet
M
Department of Medical Oncology, Haydarpasa Numune Education and Research Hospital, Turkey.
Bilici
Ahmet
A
Seker
Mesut
M
Dane
Faysal
F
Gocun
Murat
M
Konya
Volkan
V
Ustaalioglu
Bala Basak Oven
BB
Gumus
Mahmut
M
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001792:Blood Platelets / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007958:Leukocyte Count; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D009504:Neutrophils / Q000502:physiology; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology; D010976:Platelet Count; D011379:Prognosis; D015996:Survival Rate