Is Neutrophil-to-Lymphocyte Ratio a Prediction Marker for Success of Immunotherapy? Preliminary Results
- 1 Department of Oncology, Barzilai Medical Center, Ashkelon, Israel
- 2 Research Center, Barzilai Medical Center, Ashkelon, Israel
- 3 Orthopedic Department, Barzilai Medical Center, Ashkelon, Israel
- 4 Department of Oncology, Barzilai Medical Center, Ashkelon, Israel
- 5 Department of Oncology, Barzilai Medical Center, Ashkelon, Israel
- 6 Department of Oncology, Barzilai Medical Center, Ashkelon, Israel
- 7 Faculty of Medicine, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva, Israel
Abstract
Background: Cancer immunotherapy treatments enhance the cancer treatment approach. The neutrophil-to-lymphocyteratio (NLR) has been associated with cancer prognosis, affecting progression, chemosensitivity, radiosensitivity and toxicity. Patients and Methods: Ten patients (nine males, one female), aged 68 ± 10 years, were included in this study. Six patients had squamous cell carcinoma of the lungs and two had adenocarcinoma of the lungs. One patient suffered from limb soft tissue sarcoma and one had renal cell carcinoma. All patients had metastatic disease and were pretreated with chemotherapy or biologic agents. The rationale of testing NLR was to compare it to the clinical response of the patients assessed by RECIST criteria using computerized tomography (CT) scans. Results: In regression analysis, older patients were found to respond better to immunotherapy treatment than younger patients. NLR was 4.26 ± 2.25 (p < 0.01) in the older patients group and 2.84 ± 0.90 (p < 0.01) in the younger patients group. No difference in response according to tumor type (p = 0.479) was observed. Conclusion: We provide preliminary evidence demonstrating that low NLR helps in understanding the value of the underlying immune system in expecting a good outcome to immune treatment. The NLR is a simple and available biomarker, easy to apply in clinical practice .
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