Background: The lymphocyte to monocyte ratio (LMR), a novel systematic biomarker of inflammation, has been reported to be associated with the progression and prognosis of many malignant cancers. However, the relationship between LMR and survival outcome of urological cancers (UCs) remains controversial. Herein, we conducted a meta-analysis to identify the prognostic value of pretreatment LMR in patients with UCs.
Methods: A literature search was performed in PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, Cochrane Library, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Scopus, and CINAHL databases up to July 2018. The pooled hazard ratios (HRs) and odds ratios (ORs) with corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated to evaluate the association of LMR with survival outcome and clinicopathological characteristics in UCs.
Results: A total of 17 articles containing 5552 patients were included in our study. The synthesized analysis showed that elevated pretreatment LMR level could predict favorable overall survival (OS) of UCs patients (pooled HR = 0.82, 95%CI: 0.77-0.87). Additionally, the decreased LMR level was correlated with tumor stage (OR = 1.72, 95%CI: 1.15-2.55), lymph node metastasis (OR = 1.46, 95%CI:1.06-1.99), grade (OR = 1.79, 95%CI:1.41-2.27), tumor size (OR = 2.21, 95%CI:1.81-2.68) and necrosis (OR = 1.71, 95%CI:1.36-2.16).
Conclusion: The high pretreatment LMR was associated with favorable prognosis, and could be a potential prognostic biomarker in patients with UCs.
Keywords: Clinicopathological; Lymphocyte to monocyte ratio; Overall survival; Prognostic; Urological cancers.
Copyright © 2018 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.