The evolution of the neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and the platelet-lymphocyte ratio during polychemotherapy in head and neck cancers

Abstract

The identification of prognostic and predictive biomarkers in oncological pathology is a desideratum of translational research in cancer. The neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and the platelet-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) were considered sug­ges­tive to characterize both cell-mediated immune sta­tus and inflammation in cancer, thus being potential bio­mar­kers. Due to the high rate of therapeutic failure even in the case of a treatment with curative potential, head and neck cancers are a priority in the research of po­ten­tial biomarkers that allow a stratification of risk groups in order to adapt the therapy. The aim of the study is the dynamic evaluation of NLR and nadir PLR and du­ring chemotherapy cycles for patients with multimodal, nonsurgically treated head and neck cancers. The mean NLR and PLR values vary during treatment, but the mean nadir value is not significantly different from the mean NLR and PLR values before the last cycle of chemotherapy. If there is solid evidence regarding the role of NLR nadir as a biomarker, the evaluation of NLR and PLR dynamics re­quires further research to confirm the possibility of being validated as a prognostic or predictive biomarker of re­sponse to chemotherapy and radiotherapy in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.