title: Sensitivity value of hematological markers in patients receiving chemoradiotherapy for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Hematological markers of the systemic inflammatory response (SIR) including the neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet to lymphocyte ratio (PLR), and the combination of NLR with PLR (CNP) are associated with prognosis of patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). However, their value in predicting the sensitivity to chemoradiotherapy in patients with ESCC is unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate whether these markers can be used as sensitivity predictors for chemoradiotherapy in patients with ESCC.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 114 patients with newly diagnosed ESCC were retrospectively evaluated. They were treated with curative intent by primary radiotherapy only or concurrent chemoradiotherapy. These patients were grouped for further analysis according to the optimum cutoff values of NLR, PLR, and CNP. A univariate analysis was conducted to compare the ability of each of the hematological markers of SIR and clinicopathological characteristics. Multivariate analysis was performed to identify whether the markers were associated with the sensitivity to chemoradiotherapy. The relationship between clinicopathological characteristics and hematological markers was assessed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  NLR, CNP, T stage, M stage, and clinical stage were significantly associated with the sensitivity to chemoradiotherapy. In multivariate analysis, CNP and clinical stage were the independent risk factors predicting a poorer sensitivity.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study validated novel, easy-to-use hematological markers and found that CNP, an SIR score, is an independent hematological marker of poor sensitivity to chemoradiotherapy in patients with ESCC. This may help guide the planning of follow-up regimens.
authors: School of Medicine and Life Sciences, Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences, University of Jinan; Department of Radiotherapy.
authors: Shan
authors: S
authors: Zhu
authors: School of Medicine and Life Sciences, Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences, University of Jinan; Department of Radiotherapy.
authors: Chuan-Wang
authors: CW
authors: Miao
authors: Department of Radiotherapy.
authors: Zhong-Tang
authors: ZT
authors: Wang
authors: Department of Clinical Laboratory, Shandong Cancer Hospital Affiliated to Shandong University, Jinan, People's Republic of China.
authors: Li
authors: L
authors: Peng
authors: Department of Radiotherapy.
authors: Baosheng
authors: B
authors: Li
keywords: hematological markers; neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio; platelet to lymphocyte ratio; sensitivity to chemoradiotherapy; systemic inflammatory response