SynthesisPloS one2014
Prognostic significance of the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio in primary liver cancer: a meta-analysis.
Synthesis in PloS one, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 60 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
60 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- The lung immune prognostic index as a predictive biomarker in urological malignancies undergoing immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy.Annals of medicine · 2025Pooled it
- Predictive value of neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio for clinical outcomes in liver cirrhosis: A systematic review and meta-analysis.PloS one · 2025Pooled it
- Prognostic and Predictive Factors in Patients with Advanced HCC and Elevated Alpha-Fetoprotein Treated with Ramucirumab in Two Randomized Phase III Trials.Clinical cancer research : an official journal of the American Association for Cancer Research · 2022Pooled it
- Prognostic value of the pretreatment neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio in cervical cancer: a meta-analysis and systematic review.Oncotarget · 2017Pooled it
- Prognostic role of neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio in nasopharyngeal carcinoma: A meta-analysis.PloS one · 2017Pooled it
- Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio for the prognostic assessment of hepatocellular carcinoma: A systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies.Oncotarget · 2016Pooled it
- Prognostic Value of Neutrophil-to-Lymphocyte Ratio in Localized and Advanced Prostate Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.PloS one · 2016Pooled it
- Lymphocyte-C-Reactive Protein Ratio: Impact on Prognosis of Patients Following Resection of Primary Liver Cancer.World journal of surgery · 2025Article
- The Association of Systemic Inflammatory Response with Hepatitis B Vaccine Unresponsiveness.Viruses · 2025Article
- Prognostic impact of preoperative nutritional and immune inflammatory parameters on liver cancer.World journal of gastrointestinal surgery · 2024Article
- High neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio indicates a worse response to ursodeoxycholic acid in primary biliary cholangitis: a retrospective cohort study.BMC gastroenterology · 2023Article
- Radioimmunotherapy With WT1 Dendritic Cell Vaccine for End-Stage Lung Adenocarcinoma Markedly Shrinks Tumors.Cureus · 2023Article
- Prognostic Significance of Neutrophil-Lymphocyte Ratio in Patients of High-Grade Glioma Undergoing Adjuvant Chemoradiation: A Prospective Study.Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention : APJCP · 2023Article
- Article
- Novel predictors of immune checkpoint inhibitor response and prognosis in advanced non-small-cell lung cancer with bone metastasis.Cancer medicine · 2023Article
- Quitting smoking after a cancer diagnosis is associated with high-risk neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio among tobacco use-related cancer survivors.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio as a prognostic factor for patients with urothelial carcinoma of the bladder following radical cystectomy.Central European journal of urology · 2023Article
- Preoperative systemic inflammatory response index predicts the prognosis of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma after liver transplantation.Frontiers in immunology · 2023Article
- Article
- Real-Life Clinical Data of Lenvatinib versus Sorafenib for Unresectable Hepatocellular Carcinoma in Italy.Cancer management and research · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is a useful biomarker that reflects systemic inflammation responses. However, the prognostic value of the NLR in patients with primary liver cancer (PLC) remains controversial. We performed a meta-analysis of 26 studies (comprising 4,461 patients) to evaluate the association between the pre-treatment NLR and clinical outcomes of overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) in patients with PLC. The correlation between NLR and tumor characteristics or other inflammation-related parameters was also assessed. Data were synthesized using the random-effects model of DerSimonian and Laird, and the hazard ratio (HR) or odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) was used to estimate effect size. Our analysis indicated that a high NLR predicted poor OS (HR, 2.102; 95% CI: 1.741-2.538) and DFS (HR, 2.474; 95% CI: 1.855-3.300) for PLC. A high NLR was associated with the presence of tumor vascular invasion (OR: 1.889, 95% CI: 1.487-2.400; p<0.001) and an elevated alpha-fetoprotein level (OR: 1.536; 95% CI: 1.152-2.048; p = 0.003). Thus, we conclude that a high NLR indicates a poor prognosis for patients with PLC and may also be predictive for PLC invasion and metastasis. Subgroup analysis suggested that the predictive role of NLR in cholangiocarcinoma is limited, and a further large study to confirm these findings is warranted.
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