Yuanping Hu1, Shouman Wang1, Nianhua Ding2, Ningsha Li2, Juan Huang1, Zhi Xiao3. 1. Department of Breast Surgery, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China. 2. Department of Clinical Laboratory, First Hospital of Changsha, Changsha, China. 3. Department of Breast Surgery, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China; Department of Breast Surgery, Clinical Research Center for Breast Cancer Control and Prevention in Hunan Province, Changsha, China. Electronic address: zhixiao@csu.edu.cn.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: The neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelet/lymphocyte ratio (PLR) have been associated with the prognosis in breast cancer (BC). The relationship of the NLR and PLR with chemotherapy sensitivity and prognosis in luminal B-like (human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative [HER2-]) BC are not well studied. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The clinical data from 980 patients with luminal B-like (HER2-) BC from June 2012 to June 2016 were collected. The differences among the variables were calculated using the χ2 test. The associations among the clinicopathologic factors, pretreatment NLR, pretreatment PLR, and disease-free survival (DFS) were analyzed using Kaplan-Meier curves and Cox analyses. RESULTS: The median follow-up was 37 months (range, 5-77 months). For the 480 patients who had received neoadjuvant chemotherapy, low pretreatment PLR values were associated with higher pathologic complete response (pCR) rates compared with the high PLR group (15.8% for low vs. 9.2% for high PLR group; P = .027). Multivariate analyses showed that larger tumors, a greater number of lymph nodes involved, a high Ki-67 score, and a high PLR were independent prognostic factors of worse outcomes for the patients with luminal B-like (HER2-) BC. The risk of metastasis and/or recurrence was greater for the high PLR group than for the low PLR group (hazard ratio, 1.576; 95% confidence interval, 1.039-2.390; P = .032). The pretreatment NLR showed no such associations among this cohort of patients. CONCLUSIONS: The results of the present study have shown that the pretreatment PLR is superior to the NLR as a predictor of pCR and DFS outcomes in patients with luminal B-like (HER2-) BC. A low pretreatment PLR was associated with higher pCR rates after neoadjuvant chemotherapy and was an independent predictive factor for better DFS outcomes among patients with luminal B-like (HER2-) BC.
BACKGROUND: The neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelet/lymphocyte ratio (PLR) have been associated with the prognosis in breast cancer (BC). The relationship of the NLR and PLR with chemotherapy sensitivity and prognosis in luminal B-like (human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative [HER2-]) BC are not well studied. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The clinical data from 980 patients with luminal B-like (HER2-) BC from June 2012 to June 2016 were collected. The differences among the variables were calculated using the χ2 test. The associations among the clinicopathologic factors, pretreatment NLR, pretreatment PLR, and disease-free survival (DFS) were analyzed using Kaplan-Meier curves and Cox analyses. RESULTS: The median follow-up was 37 months (range, 5-77 months). For the 480 patients who had received neoadjuvant chemotherapy, low pretreatment PLR values were associated with higher pathologic complete response (pCR) rates compared with the high PLR group (15.8% for low vs. 9.2% for high PLR group; P = .027). Multivariate analyses showed that larger tumors, a greater number of lymph nodes involved, a high Ki-67 score, and a high PLR were independent prognostic factors of worse outcomes for the patients with luminal B-like (HER2-) BC. The risk of metastasis and/or recurrence was greater for the high PLR group than for the low PLR group (hazard ratio, 1.576; 95% confidence interval, 1.039-2.390; P = .032). The pretreatment NLR showed no such associations among this cohort of patients. CONCLUSIONS: The results of the present study have shown that the pretreatment PLR is superior to the NLR as a predictor of pCR and DFS outcomes in patients with luminal B-like (HER2-) BC. A low pretreatment PLR was associated with higher pCR rates after neoadjuvant chemotherapy and was an independent predictive factor for better DFS outcomes among patients with luminal B-like (HER2-) BC.