Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32371869›Full record

ArticleScientific reports2020

An elevated neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio associates with weight loss and cachexia in cancer.

Tyler Barker, Gail Fulde, Bryce Moulton, Lincoln D Nadauld, Terence Rhodes

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Scientific reports, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 46 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
46citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
4.0field-weighted citation impact, top 5% 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

46 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 69 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Body weight loss as a prognostic and predictive factor in previously treated patients with metastatic gastric cancer: post hoc analyses of the randomized phase III TAGS trial.Gastric cancer : official journal of the International Gastric Cancer Association and the Japanese Gastric Cancer Association · 2023
    Trial
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  8. A health-system-scale, episode-resolved multimodal atlas of cancer cachexia.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2025
    Article
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  12. Review
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  20. Predictors of response to anamorelin in gastrointestinal cancer patients with cachexia: a retrospective study.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2023
    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

5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Tyler BarkerPrecision Genomics, Intermountain Healthcare, St. George, UT 84790, USA. tyler.barker@imail.org.
Gail FuldePrecision Genomics, Intermountain Healthcare, St. George, UT 84790, USA.
Bryce MoultonPrecision Genomics, Intermountain Healthcare, St. George, UT 84790, USA.
Lincoln D NadauldPrecision Genomics, Intermountain Healthcare, St. George, UT 84790, USA.
Terence RhodesPrecision Genomics, Intermountain Healthcare, St. George, UT 84790, USA.
Intermountain Healthcare · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Systemic inflammation is present during and serves as a diagnostic tool for cancer-associated cachexia and is detrimental to serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) concentrations in non-cancer conditions. The neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is a desirable measure of systemic inflammation because it is easily calculated from a routine complete blood cell count with differentials. We sought to determine if an elevation in the NLR associates with greater weight loss, cachexia, and lower serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) concentrations in patients with advanced cancer. Advanced colon, lung, and prostate cancer patients (stages III/IV; n = 50) were retrospectively studied and separated into one of two groups: 1) Above (n = 25) or 2) Below (n = 25) the median NLR of 3.15 determined at diagnosis. Around the time of diagnosis, serum 25(OH)D and body weight were assessed, while body weight was assessed again at a later date. Weight loss and cachexia were significantly (both p < 0.05) greater and there was a trend (p < 0.10) for lower serum 25(OH)D concentrations in the Above group. We conclude that an elevation in the NLR associates with greater weight loss and cachexia, and potentially, a lower serum 25(OH)D concentration in patients with advanced colon, lung, or prostate cancer.

Indexed as

AgedAged, 80 and overBody Mass IndexBody WeightCachexiaCalcifediolColonic NeoplasmsFemaleHumansInflammationLung NeoplasmsLymphocytesMaleMiddle AgedNeutrophilsProstatic NeoplasmsCalcifediol

Identifiers

PMID32371869
PMCPMC7200806
OpenAlexW3023859536

What OpenQuestion holds

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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.