ArticleCancer epidemiology, biomarkers & prevention : a publication of the American Association for Cancer Research, cosponsored by the American Society of Preventive Oncology2024
White Blood Cell Count, Neutrophil-to-Lymphocyte Ratio, and Incident Cancer in the UK Biobank.
Article in Cancer epidemiology, biomarkers & prevention : a publication of the American Association for Cancer Research, cosponsored by the American Society of Preventive Oncology, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers.
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Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 18 citations in OpenAlex.
- Article
- The use of blood test trends in cancer detection: a scoping review.Diagnostic and prognostic research · 2026Review
- Predictive Value of Peripheral Blood Inflammatory Markers and Nutritional Indices for Survival in Young Patients with Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Construction of a Nomogram.Current oncology (Toronto, Ont.) · 2026Article
- Inflammation-related composite indices and their association with osteoporosis and fragility fractures in rheumatoid arthritis.Arthritis research & therapy · 2026Article
- Multicentric Validation of a Complete Blood Count-Based Model for Breast Cancer Risk Stratification in Women Age 40-49 Years.JCO clinical cancer informatics · 2026Article
- Differential effects of neighborhood ambient PMInternational journal of health geographics · 2026Article
- Elevated neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio and the incidence of autoimmune diseases: evidence from a large prospective cohort study.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- The impact of inflammation on the incidence of different pathological types of lung cancer: the Kailuan study.Frontiers in oncology · 2026Article
- Peripheral blood neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio as a prognostic marker and its association with the tumor-immune microenvironment in pancreatic cancer: a retrospective cohort study.Journal of gastrointestinal oncology · 2025Article
- Walking Speed and Risk of Cancer in Two Prospective Cohort Studies.Journal of cachexia, sarcopenia and muscle · 2025Article
- A Cross-Sectional Study of Platelet-to-Lymphocyte Ratio in Relation to Pigment Cell Nevi and Atypical Mole Syndrome.Health science reports · 2025Article
- Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio as a prognostic marker for lung cancer in combined pulmonary fibrosis and emphysema patients.European journal of medical research · 2025Article
- Decoding the Nonlinear Association Between Visceral Adiposity Index and All-Cause Mortality: The Mediating Role of White Blood Cells and Neutrophils.International journal of endocrinology · 2025Article
- White Blood Cell Count Is Associated with Hyperuricemia in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.Journal of inflammation research · 2025Article
- A novel prognostic score of recurrence for endometrial cancer patients with staging surgery.BMC women's health · 2024Article
- Usefulness of White Blood Cell Differential-based Indices in Patients With Extensive-stage Small Cell Lung Cancer.Cancer diagnosis & prognosisArticle
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
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Abstract
backgroundThe peripheral white blood cell (WBC) and neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) reflect levels of inflammation and adaptive immunity. They are associated with cancer prognosis, but their associations with cancer incidence are not established.
methodsWe evaluated 443,540 cancer-free adults in the UK Biobank with data on total WBC and its subsets, follow-up starting one year after baseline. Cox regression was used to estimate hazard ratios (HR) per quartile of WBC or NLR for incidence of 73 cancer types.
results22,747 incident cancers were diagnosed during a median of 6.9 years of follow-up. WBC was associated with risk of cancer overall [HR, 1.05; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.03-1.06], chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic leukemia (CLL/SLL, 2.79; 95% CI, 2.45-3.18), lung cancer (1.14, 95% CI, 1.08-1.20), and breast cancer (95% CI, 1.05-1.02-1.08). NLR was positively associated with cancer overall (HR, 1.03; 95% CI, 1.02-1.04, per quartile) and kidney cancer (1.16; 95% CI, 1.07-1.25), and inversely with CLL/SLL (0.38; 95% CI, 0.33-0.42).
conclusionsHigh WBC or NLR may reflect excessive inflammatory status, promoting development of some cancers. Conversely, low NLR indicates a relative rise in lymphocytes, which could reflect an increase in circulating premalignant cells before CLL/SLL diagnosis. Peripheral WBC and NLR, in combination with other clinical information or biomarkers, may be useful tools for cancer risk stratification. IMPACT: Elevated levels of WBCs or an increased NLR may indicate an overly active inflammatory response, potentially contributing to the eventual onset of certain types of cancer.
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