title: Diagnostic and prognostic importance of the neutrophil lymphocyte ratio in breast cancer.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The aim of this study was to determine diagnostic and prognostic roles of the neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) in breast cancer patients. To date, data are limited on associations of primary breast carcinoma (PBC) and benign proliferative breast disease (BPBD) with preoperative NLR values.
  
  
  METHODS
  Our study covered of 120 female patients with PBC and 50 with BPBD. Diagnostic values of NLR were estimated using sensitivity, specificity and areas under receiver operating characteristic curves (AUC).
  
  
  RESULTS
  NLR values were significantly higher in the PBC patients than in those with BPBD, with an AUC of 0.668 in the PBC case. The optimal cut-off for NLR was 2.96 and this was validated in the testing set, giving a sensitivity and a specificity of 79.7% and 76.2%, respectively, in PBC patients.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Preoperative high NLR is a significant diagnostic predictor of distinction of breast cancer from BPBD and elevated NLR is also an important prognostic marker for primary invasive breast cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Abant Izzet Baysal University, Bolu, Turkey E-mail : gulzade78@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Gulzade
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ozyalvacli
authors.forename: Cemile
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Yesil
authors.forename: Ertugrul
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kargi
authors.forename: Betul
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kizildag
authors.forename: Asuman
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kilitci
authors.forename: Fahri
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Yilmaz
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001941:Breast Diseases / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology; D018270:Carcinoma, Ductal, Breast / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology; D018275:Carcinoma, Lobular / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007958:Leukocyte Count; D018655:Lymphocyte Count; D008214:Lymphocytes; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D009504:Neutrophils; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D047368:Tumor Burden