Jun Zheng1,2, Jianye Cai1,2, Hui Li1,2, Kaining Zeng1,2, Liying He3, Hongyuan Fu1,2, Jiebin Zhang1,2, Liang Chen1,2, Jia Yao1,2, Yingcai Zhang1,2, Yang Yang1,2. 1. Department of Hepatic Surgery and Liver transplantation Center of the Third Affiliated Hospital, Organ Transplantation Institute, Sun Yat-sen University, Organ Transplantation Research Center of Guangdong Province, Guangzhou, China. 2. Guangdong Key Laboratory of Liver Disease Research, Key Laboratory of Liver Disease Biotherapy and Translational Medicine of Guangdong Higher Education Institutes, the Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China. 3. Department of Gastroenterology, Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center, Guangzhou, China.
Abstract
BACKGROUND/AIMS: Systemic inflammatory response (SIR) is widely considered as a preoperative risk factor for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) outcomes. The neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelet to lymphocyte ratio (PLR), two of the prognostic indices, have been investigated in post-therapeutic recurrence and survival of HCC. Here, we quantify the prognostic value of these two biomarkers and evaluate their consistency in different HCC therapies. METHODS: A systematic review of electronic database of the Web of Science, Embase, PubMed and the Cochrane Library was conducted to search for associations between the NLR and PLR in the blood and clinical outcomes of HCC. Overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) were the primary outcomes, and hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) were explored as effect measures. Subgroup analyses were performed to explore the heterogeneity of different therapies. RESULTS: A total of 24 articles comprising 6318 patients were included in the meta-analysis. Overall, the pooled outcomes revealed that a high NLR before treatment predicted a poor OS (HR: 1.54, 95% CI: 1.34 to 1.76, p<0.001) and poor RFS (HR: 1.45, 95% CI: 1.16 to 1.82, p=0.001). Moreover, an increased PLR predicted a poor OS (HR: 1.63, 95% CI: 1.34 to 1.98, p<0.001) and earlier HCC recurrence (HR: 1.52, 95% CI: 1.21 to 1.91, p<0.001). In addition, both the NLR and PLR were identified as independent risk factors for predicting OS and RFS in HCC patients in a subgroup analysis of different treatment types, including curative or palliative therapy; however, these results were not found in the sorafenib subgroup due to limited clinical research. CONCLUSION: An increased NLR or PLR indicated poor outcomes for patients with HCC. The NLR and PLR may be considered as reliable and inexpensive biomarkers for making clinical decisions regarding HCC treatment.
BACKGROUND/AIMS: Systemic inflammatory response (SIR) is widely considered as a preoperative risk factor for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) outcomes. The neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelet to lymphocyte ratio (PLR), two of the prognostic indices, have been investigated in post-therapeutic recurrence and survival of HCC. Here, we quantify the prognostic value of these two biomarkers and evaluate their consistency in different HCC therapies. METHODS: A systematic review of electronic database of the Web of Science, Embase, PubMed and the Cochrane Library was conducted to search for associations between the NLR and PLR in the blood and clinical outcomes of HCC. Overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) were the primary outcomes, and hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) were explored as effect measures. Subgroup analyses were performed to explore the heterogeneity of different therapies. RESULTS: A total of 24 articles comprising 6318 patients were included in the meta-analysis. Overall, the pooled outcomes revealed that a high NLR before treatment predicted a poor OS (HR: 1.54, 95% CI: 1.34 to 1.76, p<0.001) and poor RFS (HR: 1.45, 95% CI: 1.16 to 1.82, p=0.001). Moreover, an increased PLR predicted a poor OS (HR: 1.63, 95% CI: 1.34 to 1.98, p<0.001) and earlier HCC recurrence (HR: 1.52, 95% CI: 1.21 to 1.91, p<0.001). In addition, both the NLR and PLR were identified as independent risk factors for predicting OS and RFS in HCC patients in a subgroup analysis of different treatment types, including curative or palliative therapy; however, these results were not found in the sorafenib subgroup due to limited clinical research. CONCLUSION: An increased NLR or PLR indicated poor outcomes for patients with HCC. The NLR and PLR may be considered as reliable and inexpensive biomarkers for making clinical decisions regarding HCC treatment.
Authors: Artur Nóbrega Lima Rodrigues de Morais; Victor Matheus Ribeiro Baylão; Tamires Martins Silva; Alexandra Gomes Dos Santos; Mayara Azevedo; Adilson J M de Oliveira Journal: Neurosurg Rev Date: 2021-02-15 Impact factor: 3.042