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Prognostic Impact of the Neutrophil-to-Lymphocyte Ratio in Borderline Resectable Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma Treated with Neoadjuvant Chemoradiotherapy Followed by Surgical Resection

World Journal of Surgery volume 43, pages 3153–3160 (2019)Cite this article

Abstract

Background

Increasing evidence suggests that cancer-associated inflammation, as indicated by markers such as the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), and modified Glasgow Prognostic Score (mGPS), predicts poor outcomes in pancreatic cancer. In this study, the associations between systemic inflammation markers and survival were examined in borderline resectable pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (BR-PDAC) patients who underwent neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (NACRT) followed by surgical resection.

Methods

From April 2009 to December 2017, 119 patients diagnosed with BR-PDAC and receiving NACRT followed by radical surgery were included in this retrospective study. The associations between the pre- and post-NACRT NLR, PLR, mGPS, and clinicopathological characteristics, as well as their predictive values for survival outcomes, were analyzed. This study was approved by an institutional review board at Yokohama City University (B180600049).

Results

On multivariate analysis with a Cox’s proportional hazards regression model, post-NACRT NLR ≥3 (p = 0.040; hazard ratio, 2.24; 95% CI 1.28–3.91) and lymph node metastasis (p = 0.002; hazard ratio, 2.33; 95% CI 1.36–3.99) were significantly associated with shorter overall survival. The median survival time was 22.0 months for patients with post-NACRT NLR ≥3 and 45.0 months for patients with post-NACRT NLR <3 (p = 0.028).

Conclusions

The NLR following NACRT might predict survival in BR-PDAC patients. Patients with an elevated post-NACRT NLR or positive lymph node metastasis may be candidates for stronger adjuvant therapies.

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Affiliations

  1. Department of Gastroenterological Surgery, Graduate School of Medicine, Yokohama City University, 3-9 Fuku-ura, Kanazawa-ku, Yokohama, 236-0004, Japan

    Hirokazu Kubo, Takashi Murakami, Ryusei Matsuyama, Yasuhiro Yabushita, Nobuhiro Tsuchiya, Yu Sawada, Yuki Homma, Takafumi Kumamoto & Itaru Endo

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  1. Hirokazu Kubo
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  2. Takashi Murakami
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  3. Ryusei Matsuyama
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  4. Yasuhiro Yabushita
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Correspondence to Itaru Endo.

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Kubo, H., Murakami, T., Matsuyama, R. et al. Prognostic Impact of the Neutrophil-to-Lymphocyte Ratio in Borderline Resectable Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma Treated with Neoadjuvant Chemoradiotherapy Followed by Surgical Resection. World J Surg 43, 3153–3160 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00268-019-05159-9

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