Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34561257›Full record

SynthesisBMJ open2021

Role of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio as a prognostic biomarker in patients with breast cancer receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy: a meta-analysis.

Qiong Zhou, Jie Dong, Qingqing Sun, Nannan Lu, Yueyin Pan, Xinghua Han

Abstract readMeta-Analysis
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in BMJ open, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 34 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
34citing papers in PubMed, 6 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
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

34 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

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  7. Trial
  8. Special Issue "Molecular Research and Cellular Biology of Breast Cancer".International journal of molecular sciences · 2026
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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

6 authors.

Qiong ZhouDepartment of Oncology, Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China.ORCID 0000-0002-8334-5527
Jie DongDepartment of Oncology, Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China.
Qingqing SunDepartment of Oncology, Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China.
Nannan LuDivision of Life Sciences and Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, Hefei, Anhui, China.
Yueyin PanDivision of Life Sciences and Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, Hefei, Anhui, China.
Xinghua HanDivision of Life Sciences and Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, Hefei, Anhui, China hxhmail@ustc.edu.cn.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveThe neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is recognised as a suitable prognostic biomarker in patients with breast cancer. Nevertheless, the efficacy of this biomarker in predicting the pathological complete response (pCR) and survival in patients with breast cancer receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) is still controversial. This meta-analysis aimed to identify the association between baseline NLR and the prognosis of patients with breast cancer treated with NACT.

designMeta-analysis. DATA SOURCES: Relevant literature published before 1 May 2021 was searched using the Cochrane Library, Embase, PubMed and the Web of Science databases. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA: All studies involving patients with breast cancer treated with NACT and peripheral blood pretreatment NLR recorded as a dichotomous variable were included. DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS: Two researchers independently extracted and evaluated OR/HR and its 95% CIs of survival outcomes and clinicopathological parameters.

resultsA total of 19 studies were identified. From each study, the impact of NLR on the pCR, OR and HR, with their 95% CIs were extracted and combined using either a random or fixed-effects model. The results indicate that a higher pCR in patients with a low NLR (OR 1.620, 95% CI 1.209 to 2.169, p＜0.001). In addition, an elevated NLR predicted lower disease-free survival (HR 2.269, 95% CI 1.557 to 3.307, p<0.001) and overall survival (HR 1.691, 95% CI 1.365 to 2.096, p<0.001) in patients with breast cancer treated with NACT.

conclusionsNLR is a suitable biomarker for predicting pCR and survival in patients with breast cancer receiving NACT.

Indexed as

Breast NeoplasmsNeoadjuvant TherapyFemaleHumansLymphocyte CountLymphocytesNeutrophilsPrognosisbreast tumourschemotherapyimmunologyoncology

Identifiers

PMID34561257
PMCPMC8475153

What OpenQuestion holds

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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.