Evidence map›Paper›PMID 31914029›Full record

Observational studyMedicine2020

The prognostic value of the ratio of neutrophils to lymphocytes before and after intensity modulated radiotherapy for patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

Jing Liu, Changwu Wei, Haijun Tang, Yun Liu, Wenqi Liu, Chengsen Lin

Open access · goldAbstract readObservational Study
In one paragraph

Observational study in Medicine, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
8citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
0.5field-weighted citation impact, top 34% of its field
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

8 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 12 citations in OpenAlex.

  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
    Pooled it
  2. A prognostic nomogram for patients with III-IV nasopharyngeal carcinoma based on dynamic changes in the inflammatory and nutrition index.Clinical & translational oncology : official publication of the Federation of Spanish Oncology Societies and of the National Cancer Institute of Mexico · 2025
    Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Review
  6. Article
  7. Usefulness ofThe British journal of radiology · 2022
    Article
  8. Article
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 at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Jing LiuDepartment of Radiation Oncology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University.
Changwu WeiDepartment of Orthopaedics, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University.
Haijun TangDepartment of Orthopaedics, Minzu Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, Guangxi, China.
Yun LiuDepartment of Orthopaedics, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University.
Wenqi LiuDepartment of Radiation Oncology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University.
Chengsen LinDepartment of Orthopaedics, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University.
Guangxi Medical University · CNFirst Affiliated Hospital of GuangXi Medical University · CN

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

This study aimed to determine the impact of the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and the platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) on the prognosis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) before and after intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT).Pre/post-treatment and changes in inflammatory biomarker levels of 207 patients who were diagnosed with NPC and received IMRT between January 2012 and December 2014 were analyzed, and the cellular biomarker analyses were from patient blood. ROC (receiver operating characteristic) analysis was used to decide the optimal cutoff values of NLR and changes in NLR (ΔNLR) and PLR (ΔPLR). The Kaplan-Meier and logarithmic rank methods were used to compare overall survival times between groups. Univariate analysis was used to investigate the effects of age, gender, histology, Karnofsky performance score (KPS), TNM stage, clinical stage, course of disease and lymphocyte, neutrophil and platelet counts as well as alkaline phosphatase (ALP) levels on the prognosis of NPC. The independent predictors of OS were determined by Cox multivariate regression analysis.The optimal cut-off values of NLR, PLR, ΔNLR and ΔPLR were 2.49, 155.82, 1.80, and 100.00, respectively. These were used to classify patients into high (NLR > 2.49) and low NLR groups (NLR < 2.49); high (PLR>155.82) and low (PLR < 155.82) PLR groups; high (ΔNLR>1.80) and low ΔNLR groups (ΔNLR < 1.80); high (ΔPLR > 100.00) and low ΔPLR groups (ΔPLR < 100.00). TNM stage, clinical stage and ALP levels were highly correlated with high NLR and PLR. Cox multivariate regression analysis suggested that the ΔNLR (HR = 2.89, 95% CI: 1.33∼2.78) was independent of the characteristics for NPC.As a novel inflammatory index, ΔNLR appears to have some predictive power for the prognosis of patients with NPC.

Indexed as

AdultAgedAged, 80 and overAlkaline PhosphataseBlood Cell CountBlood PlateletsFemaleHumansLymphocytesMaleMiddle AgedNasopharyngeal CarcinomaNasopharyngeal NeoplasmsNeoplasm StagingNeutrophilsPredictive Value of TestsAlkaline Phosphatase

Identifiers

PMID31914029
PMCPMC6959862
OpenAlexW3000358673

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.