Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32443286›Full record

SynthesisMedicine2020

Clinical and prognostic value of neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio for patients with thyroid cancer: A meta-analysis.

Jidong Feng, Yanyan Wang, Guohui Shan, Lei Gao

Open access · goldAbstract readMeta-Analysis
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Medicine, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 30 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
30citing papers in PubMed, 3 pooled it
2.8field-weighted citation impact, top 7% 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

30 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 51 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Neutrophil-To-Lymphocyte Ratio as a Prognostic Indicator in Thyroid Cancer.Cancer control : journal of the Moffitt Cancer Center
    Pooled it
  4. Innovative immunotherapeutic strategies for thyroid cancer: challenges and opportunities.Clinical & translational oncology : official publication of the Federation of Spanish Oncology Societies and of the National Cancer Institute of Mexico · 2026
    Review
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  19. Predicting Chemotherapy Resistance in Gestational Trophoblastic Neoplasia: Ratio of Neutrophils, Lymphocytes, Monocytes, and Platelets.Medical science monitor : international medical journal of experimental and clinical research · 2022
    Article
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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

4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Jidong FengDepartment of General Surgery.
Yanyan WangEndocrine Metabolic Disease Section, the Affiliated Hospital to Changchun University of Chinese Medicine.
Guohui ShanEndocrine Metabolic Disease Section, the Affiliated Hospital to Changchun University of Chinese Medicine.
Lei GaoCollege of Basic Medicine, Changchun University of Chinese Medicine, Changchun, Jilin Province, China.
The Affiliated Hospital to Changchun University of Chinese Medicine · CNChangchun University of Chinese Medicine · CN

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundAlthough the malignant degree is relatively low and overall prognosis is excellent, some patients with thyroid cancer still experience metastasis during the follow-up, which leads to their possible death. Pretreatment neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) has been recommended as a biomarker for the prediction of metastasis and prognosis in patients with cancers. However, its value in thyroid cancer remains inconclusive. This study aimed to comprehensively evaluate the prognostic and clinicopathological significance of NLR for thyroid cancer by a meta-analysis.

methodsEligible studies were identified by searching PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library databases. The associations between NLR level and disease-free survival (DFS) or clinicopathological parameters were estimated by calculating hazard ratio (HR) or effect size with 95% confidence interval (CI).

resultsNine studies consisting of 3081 patients were enrolled. Results of meta-analysis showed that elevated NLR was not significantly associated with unfavorable DFS overall, but subgroup analysis of multivariate-adjusted studies demonstrated an elevation in pretreatment NLR predicted poor DFS (HR = 3.51, 95%CI = 1.42-8.70). Overall, a high level of NLR was significantly correlated with larger tumor size (standardized mean difference [SMD] = 0.49, 95%CI = 0.33-0.64), and metastasis status (risk ratio [RR] = 1.70, 95%CI = 1.10-2.64). The association with tumor size was still significant in the stratified analyses by country and histology type (Asian: SMD = 0.719, 95%CI = 0.44-0.98; non-Asian: SMD = 0.36, 95%CI = 0.17-0.56; medullary thyroid carcinoma: SMD = 0.57, 95%CI = 0.09-1.05; papillary thyroid carcinoma: SMD = 0.48, 95%CI = 0.31-0.64). The association between NLR and metastasis was only significant for papillary thyroid carcinoma subtype (RR = 1.82, 95%CI = 1.04-3.20).

conclusionPretreatment NLR may serve as an excellent biomarker for prediction of tumor growth, metastasis, and prognosis in patients with thyroid cancer.

Indexed as

CarcinomaHumansLymphocyte CountThyroid Neoplasms

Identifiers

PMID32443286
PMCPMC7253848
OpenAlexW3028583255

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

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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.