title: Are neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio and platelet/lymphocyte ratio reliable parameters as prognostic indicators in malignant mesothelioma?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Malignant mesothelioma (MM) is an aggressive asbestos-related pleural tumor. The incidence is increasing with intensive use of asbestos in developing countries. We need an easily accessible, inexpensive, and reliable method for determining the low survival time prognosis of this tumor. The aim of our study was to investigate the viability of neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelet/lymphocyte ratio (PLR) as prognostic indicators in MM.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty-six patients with MM, whose histopathologic diagnosis and follow-up were performed by our clinic and whose complete archive data were accessible, were included in this retrospective study. The patients' histopathologic disease types and stages, complete blood count parameters at diagnosis, and survival were recorded.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Eighteen of the patients with MM were male and the remaining 18 of them were female; the average follow-up period was 24.83±3.61 months. The PLR levels of the patients were statistically significant (P<0.05). The NLR and PLR area under the receiver operating characteristic curve values were 0.559 and 0.749, respectively (P=0.631 and P=0.044, respectively).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  PLR was a significant prognostic indicator of MM at diagnosis on complete blood count parameters; however, NLR was not a significant prognostic indicator. A large number of prospective studies are needed to prove the reliability of the parameters.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chest Diseases, Yedikule Chest Diseases and Thoracic Surgery Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Seda
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tural Onur
authors.affiliation: Department of Chest Diseases, Yedikule Chest Diseases and Thoracic Surgery Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Sinem Nedime
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Sokucu
authors.affiliation: Department of Pulmonary Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Istanbul Bilim University, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Levent
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Dalar
authors.affiliation: Department of Chest Diseases, Yedikule Chest Diseases and Thoracic Surgery Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Sinem
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Iliaz
authors.affiliation: Department of Chest Diseases, Yedikule Chest Diseases and Thoracic Surgery Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Kaan
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kara
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, Yedikule Chest Diseases and Thoracic Surgery Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Songül
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Buyukkale
authors.affiliation: Department of Chest Diseases, Yedikule Chest Diseases and Thoracic Surgery Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Sedat
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Altin
keywords: malignant mesothelioma; neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio; platelet/lymphocyte ratio; survival