title: Preoperative neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio predicts survival in patients with T1-2N0 colorectal cancer.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is reported to be associated with prognosis of colorectal cancer. The aim of this study is to determine whether the NLR is a predictor of oncological outcomes in patients with stage I colorectal cancer who underwent curative surgery.
  
  
  METHODS
  Two hundred sixty-nine patients with stage I colorectal cancer who underwent surgical resection between December 2003 and December 2011 were retrospectively reviewed. The cutoff for NLR was defined as three by maximizing log-rank test statistics. We compared patients with a low NLR and those with a high NLR in terms of survival.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The 5-year disease-free survival (DFS) and cancer-specific survival (CSS) rates were lower in patients with a high NLR compared to those with a low NLR in stage I colorectal cancer (89.5% vs. 97.4%, P = 0.006; 94.0% vs. 98.9%, P = 0.022). Cox multivariate analysis demonstrated that preoperative NLR was independently associated with DFS (HR, 5.216; 95%CI, 1.400-19.431; P = 0.014) and CSS (HR, 6.190; 95%CI, 1.034-37.047; P = 0.046) in patients with stage I colorectal cancer.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The preoperative NLR is a prognostic factor predicting DFS and CSS in patients with stage I colorectal cancer who underwent curative surgery.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Ajou University School of Medicine, Suwon, Korea.
authors.forename: Jun Sang
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Shin
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Ajou University School of Medicine, Suwon, Korea.
authors.forename: Kwang Wook
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Suh
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Ajou University School of Medicine, Suwon, Korea.
authors.forename: Seung Yeop
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Oh
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D009504:Neutrophils / Q000473:pathology*; D011300:Preoperative Care; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D015996:Survival Rate
keywords: colorectal cancer; lymphocyte; neutrophil; prognosis