title: Pretreatment circulating monocyte count associated with poor prognosis in patients with oral cavity cancer.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the pretreatment total and differential leukocyte counts can predict the prognosis of patients with oral cavity cancer.
  
  
  METHODS
  In a retrospective analysis of patients treated between 2004 and 2011, medical records of 202 patients with oral cavity cancer were evaluated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Patients with oral cavity cancer, the peripheral total white blood cell (WBC) count, monocyte, and neutrophil counts and neutrophil lymphocyte ratio increased with the advancement of clinical stage. In contrast, the lymphocyte count decreased. Further, total WBC, monocyte, and neutrophil counts were increased in those with pathologic stage T4 and poor tumor differentiation, and the monocyte count was also increased in those with lymph node metastasis. Moreover, the pretreatment circulating monocyte count was an independent prognostic factor for cancer-specific survival.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A higher pretreatment circulating monocyte count can be considered as a useful prognostic marker in patients with oral cavity cancer.
authors.affiliation: Division of Neurology, E-Da Hospital, I-Shou University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan; Department of Medical Nutrition, Institute of Biotechnology and Chemical Engineering and I-Shou University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Yu-Duan
authors.initials: YD
authors.lastname: Tsai
authors.forename: Chao-Ping
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Chih-Yu
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Li-Wen
authors.initials: LW
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Tzer-Zen
authors.initials: TZ
authors.lastname: Hwang
authors.forename: Li-Fen
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Hsia-Fen
authors.initials: HF
authors.lastname: Hsu
authors.forename: Fu-Mei
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Chung
authors.forename: Yau-Jiunn
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Jer-Yiing
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Houng
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000097:blood* / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007958:Leukocyte Count; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D018655:Lymphocyte Count; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009000:Monocytes / Q000378:metabolism*; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009504:Neutrophils / Q000378:metabolism; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies
keywords: oral cavity cancer; prognosis; retrospective study; survival; total and differential leukocyte counts