The Relationship Between Peripheral Blood Count and Prognosis in Patients With Gastric Cancer

Abstract

Objective: Like in many types of cancer, predicting the course of the illness at the moment of diagnosis has an important place in determining the treatment strategy. Recently, there have been a great number of studies which indicate that there may be a relationship between total blood count parameters and cancers in terms of prognosis. In our study, we assessed the relationship between survival and the patients' neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), thrombocyte-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) and red blood distribution width (RDW) values at the moment of diagnosis. Material and Method: Patients (n=201) of gastric cancer who were recently diagnosed at Ondokuz Mayis University, Faculty of Medicine, Medical Oncology clinic between the dates January 2006 and September 2014 and who were treated and followed up at our center were included in the study. They were divided into two groups as Group A (n=122) consisting of stage 1-2-3 patients and Group B (n=79) consisting of stage 4 patients. The relationship of survival between NLR, PLR and RDW and the groups was assessed with life analysis. For these parameters, cut-off values were found by using ROC analysis. Results: When the relationship between the parameters and the survival of the patients with gastric cancer was examined, it was statistically shown that with the increase in NLR, longevity significantly decreased and thus prognosis became worse (p<0.05). No significant relationship was found between PLR and RDW and the patients' sruvival. Conclusion: There is a statistical relationship between NLR at the moment of diagnosis in gastric cancer and prognosis and survival. Rates of survival decrease as this rate increases and the prognosis becomes worse.