AIM/ BACKGROUND: The neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), a combined indicator of inflammation and immunology, is as yet unidentified regarding the clinical outcome of stage II and III colon cancer patients. We evaluated the effect of NLR on time-to-recurrence (TTR) and overall survival (OS) in selected patients.
Patients and methods: A total of 504 patients with stage II and III colon cancer were included in this retrospective study. Preoperative NLR with a cut-off level of 4 was associated with TTR and OS.
Results: In univariate analysis, elevated NLR was significantly associated with decreased TTR (p=0.001) and remained significant in multivariate analysis (p=0.006). Patients with NLR >4 showed a median TTR of 62.2 months. In contrast, patients with NLR ≤ 4 had a median TTR of 92.6 months.
Conclusion: This study suggests that preoperative NLR may be an independent prognostic marker for TTR in stage II and III colon cancer patients.
Keywords: Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio; colon cancer.