Meta-Analysis on the Neutrophil-Lymphocyte Ratio in Rectal Cancer Treated With Preoperative Chemoradiotherapy: Prognostic Value of Pre- and Post-Chemoradiotherapy Neutrophil-Lymphocyte Ratio

Soo Jin Lee, Kyubo Kim, Hae Jin Park

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

9 Scopus citations

Abstract

Background: To evaluate the prognostic value of neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) in rectal cancer patients treated with preoperative chemoradiotherapy (CRT) and curative surgery. Methods: A comprehensive search of the EMBASE and PubMed databases was performed to screen studies that compared treatment outcomes according to the pre-CRT and/or post-CRT NLR in patients receiving preoperative CRT and curative surgery for locally advanced rectal cancer. Hazard ratios (HRs) for disease-free survival (DFS) and/or overall survival (OS) were extracted, and a random-effects model was used for pooled analysis. Results: Totally, 22 retrospective studies comprising 6316 patients were included. Preoperative CRT was administered with concurrent chemotherapy (mostly fluoropyrimidine-based regimens). The elevated pre-CRT NLR was significantly associated with an increased risk of recurrence (HR, 1.54; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.31-1.81) and death (HR, 2.14; 95% CI, 1.61-2.84). Post-CRT NLR was reported in only 3 of 22 studies, and the correlation was not statistically significant for recurrence (HR, 1.44; 95% CI, 0.86-2.41) or death (HR, 2.38; 95% CI, 0.94-6.07). Conclusions: Elevated pre-CRT NRL, but not post-CRT NRL, is associated with inferior DFS and OS. Further studies are needed to confirm the prognostic value of NLR in rectal cancer patients receiving preoperative CRT.

Original languageEnglish
Article number778607
JournalFrontiers in Oncology
Volume12
DOIs
StatePublished - 11 Feb 2022

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This work was carried out with the support of the research fund of Hanyang University (HY-2020).

Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2022 Lee, Kim and Park.

Keywords

  • chemoradiotherapy
  • meta-analysis
  • neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio
  • radiotherapy
  • rectal cancer

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