Neutrophil to Lymphocyte Ratio as Prognostic Indicator for Patients with Esophageal Squamous Cell Cancer

Background This study aimed to evaluate the correlation between neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) with overall survival (OS) of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) patients. Method Records of patients with diagnosed ESCC were reviewed. Leukocyte counts and patients' characteristics were extracted from their clinical records to calculate NLR. Correlation between NLR and baseline characteristics with overall survival (OS) was then analyzed using Cox regression. The patients were then separated into higher and lower NLR groups according to median NLR. OS was further compared between the 2 groups. Results A total of 1281 patients were included in the study. Cox regression analysis showed a significant correlation of NLR with OS of ESCC patients. The median pretreatment NLR was identified as 2.86. Higher NLR was associated with worse prognosis in terms of OS. Conclusions Pretreatment NLR is independently associated with OS of ESCC patients. Therefore, NLR may be used as a predictive indicator for pretreatment evaluation and adjustment of treatment regimen.