Prognostic significance of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio in prostate cancer: evidence from 16,266 patients

This study was aimed to investigate the prognostic value of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) in patients with prostate cancer (PCa). A meta-analysis including 14 publications (15 cohorts) with 16,266 patients was performed to evaluate the association between NLR and overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS)/recurrence-free survival (RFS) in PCa using hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI). The combining data showed that increased NLR predict poor OS (HR = 1.38, 95% CI: 1.22-1.56) and PFS/RFS (HR = 1.24, 95% CI 1.05-1.46) in PCa. Stratified analysis by PCa type, sample size, ethnicity and NLR cut-off value revealed that NLR showed consistent prognostic value in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) patients and predict poor PFS/RFS in Asians, but not in Caucasians. These statistical data suggested that increased NLR could predict poor prognosis in patients with PCa.Special fund for "Capital clinically characteristic applied research" of Beijing Municipal Science & Technology Commission [Z141107002514160]SCI(E)PubMedARTICLEdoctorgaoxs@126.com22089