title: Association of neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio and platelet/lymphocyte ratio with ER and PR in breast cancer patients and their changes after neoadjuvant chemotherapy.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Proinflammatory markers, including neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelet/lymphocyte ratio (PLR), are associated with many aspects of different malignancies. The aim of this study was to assess the associations of NLR and PLR with estrogen receptor (ER) and progesterone receptor (PR) expression in locally advanced breast cancer patients and their changes after neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC). Whether these parameters were predictive for the response to NAC in breast cancer patients was also evaluated.
  
  
  METHODS
  132 Female primary locally advanced breast cancer patients treated with either ET (epirubicin-docetaxel), TEC (docetaxel-epirubicin-cyclophosphamide), or CEF (cyclophosphamide-epirubicin-fluorouracil) as NAC were retrospectively studied. NLR and PLR were calculated from peripheral blood cell count and their optimal cutoff levels were determined by receiver operating characteristic curves.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The proportion of ER-positive breast cancers before NAC was higher both in NLRlow(<2.05) group and PLRlowgroup (<159.01). Changes in ER or PR expression level or status were observed in some patients. The alterations of NLR and PLR after NAC correlated with chemotherapy regimens, and elevated PLR was found. The patients with low pretreatment NLR (<1.67) or PLR (<151.27) had better responses to NAC than those with high NLR (≥1.67, 67.3 vs. 47.1%, P < 0.05) or PLR (≥151.27, 64.0 vs. 45.1%, P < 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The patients with low pretreatment NLR (<2.05) or PLR (<159.01) had higher ER expression. Changes in ER and PR expression status or level occured following NAC. Elevated PLR was found aft-NAC. Pretreatment NLR and PLR may be important predictive indicators for NAC response in breast cancer patients.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, #107 West Wenhua Road, Jinan, 250012, Shandong, People's Republic of China.|Department of Medical Oncology, Tai'an City Central Hospital, Tai'an, 271000, Shandong, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, Tai'an City Central Hospital, Tai'an, 271000, Shandong, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ni
authors.affiliation: Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, #107 West Wenhua Road, Jinan, 250012, Shandong, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, #107 West Wenhua Road, Jinan, 250012, Shandong, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, #107 West Wenhua Road, Jinan, 250012, Shandong, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Jing
authors.affiliation: Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, #107 West Wenhua Road, Jinan, 250012, Shandong, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, #107 West Wenhua Road, Jinan, 250012, Shandong, People's Republic of China. y.g.liu@163.com.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, #107 West Wenhua Road, Jinan, 250012, Shandong, People's Republic of China. quxun@sdu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: X
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8276-1692
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Qu
mesh_terms: D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000032:analysis; D001792:Blood Platelets / Q000473:pathology*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000473:pathology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D020360:Neoadjuvant Therapy; D009504:Neutrophils / Q000473:pathology*; D011379:Prognosis; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen / Q000378:metabolism*; D011980:Receptors, Progesterone / Q000378:metabolism*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D015996:Survival Rate
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen; D011980:Receptors, Progesterone
keywords: Breast cancer; Estrogen receptor; Neoadjuvant chemotherapy; Neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio; Platelet/lymphocyte ratio; Progesterone receptor