Evidence map›Paper›PMID 24559042›Full record

SynthesisBMC cancer2014

Prognostic significance of neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio in hepatocellular carcinoma: a meta-analysis.

Wei-Kai Xiao, Dong Chen, Shao-Qiang Li, Shun-Jun Fu, Bao-Gang Peng, Li-Jian Liang

Abstract readMeta-Analysis
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in BMC cancer, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 128 papers, 13 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
128citing papers in PubMed, 13 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

128 citing papers in PubMed, 13 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Prognostic Significance of the Pretreatment Neutrophil-to-Lymphocyte Ratio and Tumor-Associated Neutrophils in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Journal of oral pathology & medicine : official publication of the International Association of Oral Pathologists and the American Academy of Oral Pathology · 2026
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68 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Wei-Kai Xiao
Dong Chen
Shao-Qiang LiDepartment of Hepatobiliary Surgery, the First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, No, 58 Zhongshan Er Road, Guangzhou 510080, China. lisq@medmail.com.cn.
Shun-Jun Fu
Bao-Gang Peng
Li-Jian Liang

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundsNeutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) has recently been reported as a predictor of Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, its prognostic value in HCC still remains controversial. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the association between NLR and clinical outcome of HCC patients by performing meta-analysis.

methodsA comprehensive literature search for relevant studies published up to August 2013 was performed by using PubMed, Ovid, the Cochrane Library and Web of Science databases. Meta-analysis was performed using hazard ratio (HR) or odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) as effect measures.

resultsA total of 15 studies encompassing 3094 patients were included in this meta-analysis. Our pooled results showed that high NLR was associated with poor overall survival (OS) and disease free survival (DFS) in HCC initially treated by liver transplantation (HR = 3.42, 95% CI:2.41-4.85,P = 0.000; HR = 5.90, 95% CI:3.99-8.70,P = 0.000, respectively) and surgical resection (HR = 3.33, 95% CI:2.23-4.98, P = 0.000; HR = 2.10, 95% CI: 2.06-2.14, respectively). High NLR was also associated with poor OS in HCC treated by radiofrequency-ablation (HR = 1.28, 95%CI: 1.10-1.48, P = 0.000), TACE (HR = 2.52, 95% CI: 1.64-3.86, P = 0.000) and mixed treatment (HR = 1.85, 95%  CI: 1.40-2.44, P = 0.000), respectively. In addition, high NLR was significantly correlated with the presence of vascular invasion (OR = 2.69, 95% CI: 2.01-3.59, P = 0.000), tumor multifocality (OR = 1.74, 95% CI: 1.30-2.34, P = 0.000) and higher incidence of AFP ≥ 400 ng/ml (OR = 1.46, 95% CI: 1.01-2.09, P = 0.04).

conclusionElevated NLR indicates a poor prognosis for patients with HCC. NLR may be a convenient, easily-obtained, low cost and reliable biomarker with prognostic potential for HCC.

Indexed as

Neutrophil InfiltrationCarcinoma, HepatocellularCombined Modality TherapyHumansLeukocyte CountLiver NeoplasmsLymphocytes, Tumor-InfiltratingNeoplasm GradingNeovascularization, PathologicNeutrophilsOdds RatioProportional Hazards ModelsPublication BiasTumor Burden

Identifiers

PMID24559042
PMCPMC4015698

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.