High baseline neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) has been associated with poor survival in a number of solid tumors, but has not been extensively investigated in the context of radiation oncology. Developing more robust models to predict survival would inform patient care for patients with metastatic solid tumors. The present study was undertaken to evaluate the effect of baseline NLR (using 4 as a cutoff) on survival in 320 consecutive patients with metastatic cancer who were referred to a single radiation oncologist between 2012 and 2015, with a median follow-up of 20.6 months. The median NLR was 4.4 (interquartile range, 2.8-7.2). Patients with a baseline NLR ≤4 had a median survival of 9.3 months compared to 4.1 months for NLR >4 (P<0.001). The number of active tumors, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status score, baseline albumin, primary tumor site, liver metastases and baseline NLR predicted overall survival on both univariate and multivariate analysis (P<0.05 for all). After adjusting for known prognostic factors for advanced solid tumors, baseline NLR >4 independently predicted adverse survival in this cohort.
Keywords: neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio; radiation; survival prediction.
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