Faculty Collaboration Database

High neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio is not independently associated with worse survival or recurrence in patients with extremity soft tissue sarcoma. Surgery 2020 Oct;168(4):760-767

Date

08/02/2020

Pubmed ID

32736869

DOI

10.1016/j.surg.2020.06.017

Scopus ID

2-s2.0-85088789886 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)   5 Citations

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Soft tissue sarcomas are a heterogenous group of neoplasms without well-validated biomarkers. Cancer-related inflammation is a known driver of tumor growth and progression. Recent studies have implicated a high circulating neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio as a surrogate marker for the inflammatory tumor microenvironment and a poor prognosticator in multiple solid tumors, including colorectal and pancreatic cancers. The impact of circulating neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio in soft tissue sarcomas has yet to be elucidated.

METHODS: We performed a retrospective analysis of patients undergoing curative resection for primary or recurrent extremity soft tissue sarcomas at academic centers within the US Sarcoma Collaborative. Neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio was calculated retrospectively in treatment-naïve patients using blood counts at or near diagnosis.

RESULTS: A high neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (≥4.5) was associated with worse survival on univariable analysis in patients with extremity soft tissue sarcomas (hazard ratio 2.07; 95% confidence interval, 1.54-2.8; P < .001). On multivariable analysis, increasing age (hazard ratio 1.03; 95% confidence interval, 1.02-1.04; P < .001), American Joint Committee on Cancer T3 (hazard ratio 1.89; 95% confidence interval, 1.16-3.09; P = .011), American Joint Committee on Cancer T4 (hazard ratio 2.36; 95% confidence interval, 1.42-3.92; P = .001), high tumor grade (hazard ratio 4.56; 95% confidence interval, 2.2-9.45; P < .001), and radiotherapy (hazard ratio 0.58; 95% confidence interval, 0.41-0.82; P = .002) were independently predictive of overall survival, but a high neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio was not predictive of survival (hazard ratio 1.26; 95% confidence interval, 0.87-1.82; P = .22).

CONCLUSION: Tumor inflammation as measured by high pretreatment neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio was not independently associated with overall survival in patients undergoing resection for extremity soft tissue sarcomas.

Author List

Strong EA, Park SH, Ethun CG, Chow B, King D, Bedi M, Charlson J, Mogal H, Tsai S, Christians K, Tran TB, Poultsides G, Grignol V, Howard JH, Tseng J, Roggin KK, Chouliaras K, Votanopoulos K, Cullinan D, Fields RC, Gamblin TC, Cardona K, Clarke CN

Authors

Manpreet Bedi MD, MS Professor in the Radiation Oncology department at Medical College of Wisconsin
John A. Charlson MD Associate Professor in the Medicine department at Medical College of Wisconsin
Kathleen K. Christians MD Professor in the Surgery department at Medical College of Wisconsin
Callisia N. Clarke MD Chief, Associate Professor in the Surgery department at Medical College of Wisconsin
Thomas Clark Gamblin MD Professor in the Surgery department at Medical College of Wisconsin
David M. King MD Chair, Professor in the Orthopaedic Surgery department at Medical College of Wisconsin

MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold

Adult
Aged
Biomarkers, Tumor
Extremities
Female
Humans
Inflammation
Leukocyte Count
Lymphocytes
Male
Middle Aged
Neoplasm Recurrence, Local
Neutrophils
Proportional Hazards Models
Retrospective Studies
Sarcoma
Soft Tissue Neoplasms
Survival Analysis
Tumor Microenvironment