ArticleRadiation oncology (London, England)2018
Relation of baseline neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio to survival and toxicity in head and neck cancer patients treated with (chemo-) radiation.
Article in Radiation oncology (London, England), 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 33 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled 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.
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.
Who cites it
33 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 61 citations in OpenAlex.
- Prognostic Potential of the Preoperative Controlling Nutritional Status (CONUT) Score in Predicting Survival of Patients with Cancer: A Systematic Review.Advances in nutrition (Bethesda, Md.) · 2021Pooled it
- Prognostic value of the postoperative neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio in solid tumors: A meta-analysis.PloS one · 2021Pooled it
- Prognostic role of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio to laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma: a meta-analysis.Brazilian journal of otorhinolaryngologyPooled it
- Evaluation of Neutrophil to Lymphocyte Ratio in Patients With Recurrent and/or Metastatic Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma Treated With a Combination of Cetuximab and Nivolumab in a Phase II Clinical Trial.American journal of clinical oncology · 2026Trial
- Validation of the Neutrophil-Lymphocyte Ratio as a Mortality Risk Stratification Marker in Patients with Proximal Femoral Fractures.Biomedicines · 2026Article
- Outcomes and prognostic markers in locally advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma underwent chemoradiotherapy.Discover oncology · 2025Article
- Prognostic value of pretreatment peripheral blood biomarkers in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma treated with chemo/bioradiotherapy.Clinical & translational oncology : official publication of the Federation of Spanish Oncology Societies and of the National Cancer Institute of Mexico · 2025Article
- Pre-Treatment Serum Prognostic Scores and Survival in Curatively Treated Laryngeal Cancer.Laryngoscope investigative otolaryngology · 2025Article
- Prognostic value of changes in pre- and postoperative inflammatory blood markers in HPV-negative head and neck squamous cell carcinomas.Acta otorhinolaryngologica Italica : organo ufficiale della Societa italiana di otorinolaringologia e chirurgia cervico-facciale · 2025Article
- Dynamic Neutrophil-to-Lymphocyte Ratio at 3-4 weeks of Intensity-Modulated Radiotherapy Combined with Normal Liver Volume Predicts Radiation-Induced Hepatic Toxicity in Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A Retrospective Study.Journal of inflammation research · 2025Article
- Translational Frontiers and Clinical Opportunities of Immunologically Fitted Radiotherapy.Clinical cancer research : an official journal of the American Association for Cancer Research · 2024Review
- The Prognostic Value of Platelet-Lymphocyte Ratio, Neutrophil-Lymphocyte Ratio, and Monocyte-Lymphocyte Ratio in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma (HNSCC)-A Retrospective Single Center Study and a Literature Review.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Role and research progress of hematological markers in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma.Diagnostic pathology · 2023Review
- Neutrophil to Lymphocyte Ratio in Oropharyngeal Squamous Cell Carcinoma: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Cancers · 2023Review
- Proximal Femur Fractures in the Elderly-A Novel Modality to Predict Mortality: The Neutrophil-to-Lymphocyte Ratio.Journal of clinical medicine · 2023Article
- Significance of neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio as a predictor of outcome in head and neck cancer treated with definitive chemoradiation.Reports of practical oncology and radiotherapy : journal of Greatpoland Cancer Center in Poznan and Polish Society of Radiation Oncology · 2023Article
- Longitudinal measurements of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio in nasopharyngeal cancer treated with concurrent chemoradiotherapy.PloS one · 2023Article
- Radiotherapy-induced dynamic changes in the lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio in patients with laryngeal cancer indicate poor prognosis.Frontiers in oncology · 2023Article
- Predictive Risk Factors Associated with Severe Radiation-Induced Mucositis in Nasopharyngeal or Oropharyngeal Cancer Patients: A Retrospective Study.Biomedicines · 2022Article
- Correlation between hematological parameters and PET/CT metabolic parameters in patients with head and neck cancer.Radiation oncology (London, England) · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors at 5 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundA high neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is a marker of systemic inflammation and together with the platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) is associated with worse outcomes in several solid tumors. We investigated the prognostic value of NLR and PLR in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) treated with primary or adjuvant (chemo)radiotherapy ((C)RT).
methodsA retrospective chart review of consecutive patients with HNSCC was performed. Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio and PLR were computed using complete blood counts (CBCs) performed within 10 days before treatment start. The prognostic role of NLR and PLR was evaluated with univariable and multivariable Cox regression analyses adjusting for disease-specific prognostic factors. NLR and PLR were assessed as log-transformed continuous variables (log NLR and log PLR). Endpoints of interest were overall survival (OS), locoregional recurrence-free survival (LRFS), distant recurrence-free survival (DRFS), and acute toxicity.
resultsWe analyzed 186 patients treated from 2007 to 2010. Primary sites were oropharynx (45%), oral cavity (28%), hypopharynx (14%), and larynx (13%). Median follow-up was 49 months. Higher NLR was associated with OS (adjusted HR per 1 unit higher log NLR = 1.81 (1.16-2.81), p = 0.012), whereas no association could be shown with LRFS (HR = 1.49 (0,83-2,68), p = 0.182), DRFS (HR = 1.38 (0.65-3.22), p = 0.4), or acute toxicity grade ≥ 2. PLR was not associated with outcome, nor with toxicity.
conclusionOur data suggest that in HNSCC patients treated with primary or adjuvant (C)RT, NLR is an independent predictor of mortality, but not disease-specific outcomes or toxicity. Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio is a readily available biomarker that could improve pre-treatment prognostication and may be used for risk-stratification.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.