P1.07-042 Neutrophil-Lymphocyte and Platelet-Lymphocyte Ratios Predict Prognosis in Early-Stage Resected Small-Cell Lung Cancer Patients

Abstract

Surgical resection is rarely possible in small-cell lung cancer (SCLC), a highly aggressive malignancy with limited treatment options. However, although in the past decades, for selected early-stage cases, a curative intent surgery is often performed, there is no biomarker to help the selection of patients eligible for surgery. Because previous studies - predominantly from East Asia - showed that high neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelet-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) correlate with poor prognosis in several types of tumors including SCLC, the aim of our study was to investigate the prognostic value of NLR and PLR in Caucasian patients with resected SCLC. Consecutive patients with histologically confirmed and surgically resected SCLC evaluated between 2000 and 2013 at the National Koranyi Institute of Pulmonology were analyzed in this retrospective analysis. Patients were divided into “high” and “low” groups according to their NLR and PLR at diagnosis. The cut-off NLR and PLR values were 3 and 110, respectively. Next, we evaluated the associations of preoperative NLR or PLR with vascular involvement, tumor necrosis, peritumoral inflammation, tumor grade, clinicopathological characteristics (including age, gender, stage) and overall survival (OS) in univariate and multivariate analyses. There were a total of 65 patients (39 men and 26 women) with a median age of 57.7 years (range, 40-79). The pathological stages were 1, 2 and 3A in 23, 23 and 14 cases by AJCC 7th edition (in five patients no pTNM was available). PLR was high (HPLR) in 41 (63%) and low (LPNR) in 24 (37%) patients. NLR was high (HNLR) in 35 (66%) and low (LLNR) in 17 (33%) patients. PLR significantly correlated with pathologic lymph node status (p<0.001) and NLR (p=0.007). HPLR was associated with shorter OS (vs. LPLR, HR, 2.2; 95% CI, 1.13–4.29; p=0.02). There was a non-significant trend towards longer OS in patients with LNLR (vs. HNLR, p=0.078). There were no significant associations between NLR or PLR and age, gender, stage, vascular involvement, tumor necrosis, peritumoral inflammation and tumor grade. This is the first study in Caucasian patients with resected SCLC which shows that LPLR (<110) before surgical resection may be a favorable prognostic factor for longer OS. We also conclude that preoperative HPLR may predict lymph node involvement. PLR but not NLR may help in selecting patients for surgery in the future. Further prospective studies are needed to confirm these observations.