Increased neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio is associated with disease-specific mortality in patients with penile cancer

Jun Kasuga; Takashi Kawahara; Daiji Takamoto; Sachi Fukui; Takashi Tokita; Tomoyuki Tadenuma; Masaki Narahara; Syusei Fusayasu; Hideyuki Terao; Koji Izumi; Hiroki Ito; Yusuke Hattori; Jun-Ichi Teranishi; Takeshi Sasaki; Kazuhide Makiyama; Yasuhide Miyoshi; Masahiro Yao; Yasushi Yumura; Hiroshi Miyamoto; Hiroji Uemura

doi:10.1186/s12885-016-2443-6

Increased neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio is associated with disease-specific mortality in patients with penile cancer

BMC Cancer. 2016 Jul 7:16:396. doi: 10.1186/s12885-016-2443-6.

Authors

Jun Kasuga¹, Takashi Kawahara^{2

3}, Daiji Takamoto⁴, Sachi Fukui⁵, Takashi Tokita⁶, Tomoyuki Tadenuma⁷, Masaki Narahara⁸, Syusei Fusayasu⁹, Hideyuki Terao¹⁰, Koji Izumi¹¹, Hiroki Ito¹, Yusuke Hattori¹², Jun-Ichi Teranishi¹², Takeshi Sasaki¹³, Kazuhide Makiyama¹, Yasuhide Miyoshi¹², Masahiro Yao¹, Yasushi Yumura¹², Hiroshi Miyamoto¹⁴, Hiroji Uemura¹²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Urology, Yokohama City University Graduate School of Medicine, 3-9 Fukuura, Kanazawa-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa, 2360004, Japan.
² Department of Urology, Yokohama City University Graduate School of Medicine, 3-9 Fukuura, Kanazawa-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa, 2360004, Japan. takashi_tk2001@yahoo.co.jp.
³ Departments of Urology and Renal transplantation, Yokohama City University Medical Center, Yokohama, Japan. takashi_tk2001@yahoo.co.jp.
⁴ Department of Urology, Yokohama Minami Kyosai Hospital, Yokohama, Japan.
⁵ Department of Urology, Yokohama Minato Red Cross Hospital, Yokohama, Japan.
⁶ Department of Urology, Yokosuka Kyosai Hospital, Yokosuka, Japan.
⁷ Department of Urology, Kanagawa Cancer Center, Yokohama, Japan.
⁸ Department of Urology, International Goodwill Hospital, Yokohama, Japan.
⁹ Department of Urology, Yamato Municipal Hospital, Yamato, Japan.
¹⁰ Department of Urology, Fujisawa City Hospital, Fujisawa, Japan.
¹¹ Department of Urology, Yokohama Municipal Citizen's Hospital, Yokohama, Japan.
¹² Departments of Urology and Renal transplantation, Yokohama City University Medical Center, Yokohama, Japan.
¹³ Department of Pathology, The University of Tokyo Graduate School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
¹⁴ Departments of Pathology and Urology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, USA.

Abstract

Background: The neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), a simple marker of the systemic inflammatory response, has been demonstrated to correlate with patient outcomes for various solid malignancies. We investigated the utility of the pretreatment NLR as a prognosticator in patients who presented with penile cancer.

Methods: A total of 41 patients who underwent complete blood count with differential and subsequent radical penectomy from 1988 to 2014 were analyzed. We assessed the correlation between the NLR and the prognosis of penile cancer.

Results: The median and mean (± SD) NLRs in 41 penile cancer patients were 3.42 and 5.03 ± 4.99, respectively. Based on the area under receiver operator characteristic curve, the cut-off value of NLR was determined to be 2.82. Patients with a high NLR (≥2.82) showed a significantly poorer cancer-specific survival (p = 0.023) than those with a low NLR.

Conclusions: The pretreatment NLR may function as a biomarker that precisely predicts the prognosis in patients with penile cancer.

Keywords: Biomarker; Immunohistochemistry; Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio; Penile cancer.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Area Under Curve
Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / mortality*
Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / pathology
Humans
Lymphocyte Count
Male
Middle Aged
Neoplasm Staging
Neutrophils / cytology*
Penile Neoplasms / mortality*
Penile Neoplasms / pathology
Prognosis
ROC Curve
Survival Analysis