Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34992875›Full record

ArticleReports of practical oncology and radiotherapy : journal of Greatpoland Cancer Center in Poznan and Polish Society of Radiation Oncology2021

The prognostic value of red cell distribution width (RDW), neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) in radiotherapy for oropharyngeal cancer.

Emilia Staniewska, Bartłomiej Tomasik, Rafał Tarnawski, Mateusz Łaszczych, Marcin Miszczyk

Open access · diamondAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Reports of practical oncology and radiotherapy : journal of Greatpoland Cancer Center in Poznan and Polish Society of Radiation Oncology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
12citing papers in PubMed
0.9field-weighted citation impact, top 22% 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

12 citing papers in PubMed, 14 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Biomedicines · 2026
    Article
  2. The effectiveness of three months EGFR-CTH therapy in palliative colorectal cancer.Reports of practical oncology and radiotherapy : journal of Greatpoland Cancer Center in Poznan and Polish Society of Radiation Oncology · 2025
    Article
  3. Article
  4. Review
  5. Reports of practical oncology and radiotherapy : journal of Greatpoland Cancer Center in Poznan and Polish Society of Radiation Oncology · 2024
    Article
  6. Current issues in molecular biology · 2023
    Article
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Review
  11. Significance of neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio as a predictor of outcome in head and neck cancer treated with definitive chemoradiation.Reports of practical oncology and radiotherapy : journal of Greatpoland Cancer Center in Poznan and Polish Society of Radiation Oncology · 2023
    Article
  12. Review
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 2 institutions in 1 country.

Emilia StaniewskaMaria Skłodowska-Curie National Research Institute of Oncology, Gliwice, Poland.
Bartłomiej TomasikDepartment of Biostatistics and Translational Medicine, Medical University of Łódź, Ł;ódź, Poland.
Rafał TarnawskiMaria Skłodowska-Curie National Research Institute of Oncology, Gliwice, Poland.
Mateusz ŁaszczychDepartment of Biostatistics and Translational Medicine, Medical University of Łódź, Ł;ódź, Poland.
Marcin MiszczykMaria Skłodowska-Curie National Research Institute of Oncology, Gliwice, Poland.
The Maria Sklodowska-Curie National Research Institute of Oncology · PLMedical University of Lodz · PL

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundRed cell distribution width (RDW), neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) are known inflammatory indices. Elevated values are found in many cancers and may be associated with a poor prognosis. The article aimed to assess the impact of RDW, NLR, and PLR on overall survival (OS) of patients with oropharyngeal cancer treated with radiotherapy (RT). MATERIALS AND

methodsThis retrospective study includes 208 patients treated for oropharyngeal cancer with definitive RT or RT combined with neoadjuvant or concurrent systemic therapy, at one institution between 2004 and 2014. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) method, log-rank testing, and Cox proportional hazards regression model were used for the analysis.

resultsThe OS was significantly higher in RDW ≤ 13.8% (p = 0.001) and NLR ≤ 2.099 (p = 0.016) groups. The RDW index was characterized by the highest discriminatory ability [area under the curve (AUC) = 0.59, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.51-0.67], closely followed by NLR (AUC = 0.58, 95% CI: 0.50-0.65). In the univariate Cox regression analysis, RDW [hazard ratio (HR): 1.28, 95% CI: 1.12-1.47, p < 0.001] and NLR (HR: 1.11, 95% CI: 1.06-1.18, p < 0.001) were associated with an increased risk of death. In the multivariate analysis, among the analyzed indices, only NLR was significantly associated with survival (HR: 1.16, 95% CI: 1.03-1.29, p = 0.012).

conclusionsIn the study, only NLR proved to be an independent predictor of OS. However, its clinical value is limited due to the relatively low sensitivity and specificity.

Indexed as

NLRoropharyngeal cancerPLRradiotherapyRDW

Identifiers

PMID34992875
PMCPMC8726441
OpenAlexW4200544572

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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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.