Impact of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio on long-term survival for colorectal cancer patients with adjuvant chemotherapy

Increasing evidences suggest that cancer-triggered inflammation was associated with survival prognosis from colorectal cancer (CRC). However, neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) predict prognosis in adjuvant chemotherapy are rarely investigated. A retrospective clinical data and baseline laboratory parameters of 215 CRC patients with adjuvant chemotherapy were collected between January 2007 to January 2012. The clinicopathological characteristics were compared. Statistical analysis was used to identify the predictive value of NLR and PLR associated with survival prognosis. The optimal prechemotherapy NLR and PLR cut-off value was 2.32 and 178 by the ROC analysis. Elevated NLR (≥2.32) and PLR (≥178) were obviously correlated with poor OS and RFS (all P<0.05). Moreover, statistical analysis concluded elevated NLR (≥2.32) as an prognostic factor for poor OS (P=0.005, RR 1.942, 95%CI 1.253-3.051), RFS (P=0.010, RR 1.492, 95%CI 0.458-3.281) while elevated PLR (≥178) was for poor OS (P=0.020, RR 1.585, 95%CI1.072-2.527). Thus, prechemotherapy increased NLR and PLR may server as useful clinical prognostic predictors in CRC patients with adjuvant chemotherapy, which were associated with poor prognosis.