Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte Ratio and Platelet-to-lymphocyte Ratio, Novel Biomarkers and Applications in Urology: An Update

Abstract

Blood cells play a vital role in homeostasis that can interact with numerous conditions such as inflammation, immune responses, hemostasis, and oncogenesis. The complete blood count test is an inexpensive and regular tool that provides a lot of informative markers revealing shifts in the different blood cell types in case of acute inflammation and prothrombotic phase. Among them, neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) are emerging biomarkers as the indicators and predictors for varied inflammatory responses and oncologic diseases. These markers were extensively studied in cardiovascular diseases, rheumatic diseases, colorectal, gastric lung, and ovarian cancer, as well as other diseases. In Urology field, higher NLR and PLR could be utilized for predicting prognosis and diagnosis of urinary tract infection states as well as urologic cancer diseases, such as prostate cancer, bladder cancer, and upper tract urothelial carcinoma. Also, in comparison to individuals without kidney stones, forbearing along with the kidney stones had greater NLR and PLR rates. This article aims to review some scientific evidence for the applications of NLR and PLR in Urology.