Abstract
PurposeIn this study, we evaluated the prognostic values of hematological biomarkers in primary nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients receiving definitive intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT).MethodsThere were 427 NPC patients enrolled between January 2010 and March 2013 at Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center. Pre-treatment absolute neutrophil count (ANC), platelet count (APC), lymphocyte count (ALC), neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) were collected as prognostic biomarkers. The Kaplan–Meier method and log-rank test were utilized to calculate progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). The Cox proportional hazard models were applied to assess variables.ResultsANC, APC and ALC were declined, while NLR and PLR were elevated significantly after therapy (P < 0.001 each). On multivariate analysis, pre-treatment NLR ≥ 2.32 was associated with shortened OS (P = 0.048) and PFS (P = 0.008), whereas PLR ≥ 123.0 was related with inferior OS (P = 0.032), yet it was not correlated with PFS (P = 0.161).ConclusionsHigh pre-treatment NLR and PLR indicated poor survival in NPC patients treated with IMRT-based therapy. As easily accessible and economically feasible biomarkers, NLR and PLR can be applied into clinical practice, in combination with current TNM staging, to design a more personalized treatment in these patients.
Highlights
Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is one of the highoccurrence cancer among head and neck malignancies with distinguished racial and geographic distributions
Since the patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) have been revealed to have a higher level of neutrophils compared with healthy subjects [7], there has been rising interest in the study of hematological biomarkers in HNSCC in the recent years [7, 8], as well as in NPC [1, 2, 9]
Though the relationship of hematological biomarkers with survival has been studied profoundly in HNSSC, we focused on NPC
Summary
Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is one of the highoccurrence cancer among head and neck malignancies with distinguished racial and geographic distributions. Since the patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) have been revealed to have a higher level of neutrophils compared with healthy subjects [7], there has been rising interest in the study of hematological biomarkers in HNSCC in the recent years [7, 8], as well as in NPC [1, 2, 9]. On these bases, we supposed that hematological biomarkers may be related to the local–regional relapse and. The purpose of this study was to investigate the prognostic values of these markers
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