ecancermedicalscience

Review

The neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio: a narrative review

12 Dec 2016
Sara Socorro Faria, Paulo César Fernandes Jr, Marcelo José Barbosa Silva, Vladmir C Lima, Wagner Fontes, Ruffo Freitas-Junior, Agda Karina Eterovic, Patrice Forget

Cellular-mediated inflammatory response, lymphocytes, neutrophils, and monocytes are increasingly being recognised as having an important role in tumorigenesis and carcinogenesis. In this context, studies have suggested that the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) can be used as an independent prognostic factor in a variety of cancers. Particularly in breast cancer, several studies have shown that a high NLR is associated with shorter survival. Because the NLR can be easily determined from the full blood count, it could potentially provide a simple and inexpensive test cancer prognosis. This review addresses the possibilities and limitations of using the NLR as a clinical tool for risk stratification helpful for individual treatment of breast cancer patients. The potential underlying phenomena and some perspectives are discussed.

Related Articles

Nairica Eurico Rebello, Anita Spadigam, Anita Dhupar, Jochima Cota, Vikas Dhupar
Tooba Ali, Laraib Khan, Bilal Mazhar Qureshi, Asim Hafiz, Maria Tariq, Khurram Minhas, Nasir Ali, Ahmed Nadeem Abbasi
Swasthik Upadhya, Sameer Rastogi, Adarsh Barwad, Shamim Ahmed Shamim, Dikhra Khan, Sudheer Arava, Vineeta Ojha, Akshit Kumar Ganesan Karthikeyan, Akshya Kumar Bisoi
Simone P S Lima, Rafael Fernandes-Ferreira, Beatriz J Brait, Franciana L Aguiar, Marcela A S Pinhel, Abner dos Santos Abreu, Renato F Silva, Rita C M A Silva, Doroteia R S Souza
Ally H Mwanga, Erick M Mbuguje, Jeanine Justiniano, Balowa Musa, Nashivai Kivuyo, Daniel W Kitua, Eva Uiso, Andrew Swallow, Edith Kimambo, Azza Naif, Deogratius B Mwanakulya, Swaleh Pazi, Advera Ngaiza, Seif Wibonela, Behnam Shaygi, Cameron E Gaskill