Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32499266›Full record

SynthesisBMJ open2020

Association of the neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio and clinical outcomes in patients with lung cancer receiving immunotherapy: a meta-analysis.

Jing Jin, Lan Yang, Dan Liu, Weimin Li

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

Synthesis in BMJ open, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 68 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
68citing papers in PubMed, 5 pooled it
5.9field-weighted citation impact, top 3% 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

68 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 93 citations in OpenAlex.

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8 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

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 1 institution in 1 country.

Jing JinDepartment of Respiratory & Critical Care Medicine, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
Lan YangDepartment of Respiratory & Critical Care Medicine, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
Dan LiuDepartment of Respiratory & Critical Care Medicine, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
Weimin LiDepartment of Respiratory & Critical Care Medicine, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China weimin003@yahoo.com.ORCID 0000-0003-2859-8668
Sichuan University · CN

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivesTo explore the relationship between the pretreatment or post-treatment neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and overall survival (OS)/progression-free survival (PFS) in patients with lung cancer receiving immunotherapy.

designWe searched several databases to collect relevant studies conducted until July 2019. We carefully reviewed the full text of the included publications and combined the HRs and 95% CIs to assess the association between the NLR and survival time in patients with lung cancer receiving immunotherapy. DATA SOURCES: PubMed, the Cochrane Library, Embase and Web of Science ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA: Studies reporting the prognostic value of the NLR in patients with lung cancer receiving immunotherapy were enrolled. DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS: Basic information on the articles and patients (NLR cut-off value, NLR at baseline and HRs with 95% CIs for OS and PFS) was extracted by two authors independently. The pooled HRs of OS and PFS were synthesised using the random effects or fixed effects model.

resultsTwenty-three studies with 2068 patients were enrolled. Among all patients, 1305 (64.0%) were men and 643 (31.4%) were diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). In a pooled analysis of OS and PFS from all studies, an elevated NLR predicted poor OS (HR=1.62; 95% CI: 1.41 to 1.87; p<0.001) and PFS (HR=1.47; 95% CI: 1.25 to 1.72; p<0.001). Subgroup analyses stratified showed that the post-treatment NLR was not significantly related to OS and that patients in Asia had significantly higher HRs than those in Europe and America. Furthermore, the proportion of SCC and baseline NLR could affect the prognostic value of the NLR.

conclusionsOur study found that an elevated NLR was associated with poor OS and PFS in patients with lung cancer receiving immunotherapy and that several clinical factors might have an impact on the predictive value of the NLR in the survival of patients with lung cancer.

Indexed as

ImmunotherapyLeukocyte CountLymphocyte CountCarcinoma, Squamous CellCorrelation of DataHumansLung NeoplasmsNeutrophilsPrognosisSurvival Rateepidemiologyimmunologyrespiratory tract tumours

Identifiers

PMID32499266
PMCPMC7282333
OpenAlexW3033909630

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC
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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.