Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38515567›Full record

SynthesisFrontiers in oncology2024

The prognostic value of absolute lymphocyte count and neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio for patients with metastatic breast cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Bulin Sang, Yuxin Fan, Xurao Wang, Lixian Dong, Yuanyuan Gong, Wenhong Zou, Guanhua Zhao, Jianchang He

Open access · goldAbstract readSystematic Review
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Frontiers in oncology, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
9citing papers in PubMed
3.7field-weighted citation impact, top 6% 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

9 citing papers in PubMed, 13 citations in OpenAlex.

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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

8 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Bulin Sang *Clinical Pharmacology Research Center, Yunnan Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Kunming, China.
Yuxin Fan *Clinical Pharmacology Research Center, Yunnan Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Kunming, China.
Xurao Wang *College of Pharmacy, Dali University, Dali, China.
Lixian DongClinical Pharmacology Research Center, Yunnan Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Kunming, China.
Yuanyuan GongDepartment of Clinical Pharmacy, 920th Hospital of Joint Logistics Support Force, Kunming, China.
Wenhong ZouClinical Pharmacology Research Center, Yunnan Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Kunming, China.
Guanhua ZhaoClinical Pharmacology Research Center, Yunnan Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Kunming, China.
Jianchang HeClinical Pharmacology Research Center, Yunnan Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Kunming, China.
Yunnan Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine · CNDali University · CN

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is considered a potential prognostic marker in early breast cancer. However, the prognosis of absolute lymphocyte count (ALC) and NLR in metastatic breast cancer (MBC) has been reported in a few studies, and conclusions are still conflicting. This present manuscript aims to provide further solid evidence regarding the prognostic values of ALC and NLR in MBC patients. Method: Eligible studies that reported the associations between ALC or NLR and MBC were included by searching relative electronic databases. Overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) were used as outcome measures. The hazard ratio (HR) values and 95% confidence interval (CI) of the outcome measures were collected as effect sizes, and further analysis and discussion were conducted according to the pooled HR, subgroup analysis, publication bias, and interstudy heterogeneity. Results: Twenty-nine studies comprising 3,973 patients with MBC were included. According to our findings, lower ALC was significantly associated with poorer prognosis of OS (HR = 0.57, 95% CI 0.48 to 0.68) and PFS (HR = 0.68, 95% CI 0.58 to 0.79), and greater NLR was associated with poorer OS (HR = 1.50, 95% CI 1.35 to 1.67) and PFS (HR = 1.82, 95% CI 1.42 to 2.35). Furthermore, the prognostic values of ALC and NLR in MBC were also observed in the subgroup analyses regarding cutoff values and ethnicities. Conclusion: Low ALC and elevated NLR were observed to be significantly associated with adverse OS and PFS in MBC, indicating that ALC and NLR may act as potential prognostic biomarkers of MBC patients. Meanwhile, our results will also provide some novel evidence and research clues for the selection and development of clinical treatment strategies for MBC patients. Systematic review registration: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/, identifier CRD42021224114.

Indexed as

ALCMBCmeta-analysisNLRprognostic marker

Identifiers

PMID38515567
PMCPMC10955091
OpenAlexW4392558112

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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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.