engleski

Neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio as a predictive value for treatment outcome after neoadjuvant therapy in locally advanced breast cancer patients

Inflammation has an important role in cancer progression, as neutrophils and lymphocytes are thought to be signifi cant in tumour immunology and infl ammation. Neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR)is used as a marker of subclinical inflammation. In several malignancies prognostic value of NLR was demonstrated, indicating that elevated NLR determines worse prognosis of the patients. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between pretreatment NLR values and pathologic complete response after neoadjuvant therapy in locally advanced breast cancer patients. Retrospectively we identifi ed 117 patients with breast carcinoma (BC) treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NCT) at University Hospital for tumors in Zagreb. 79 patients fi nished NCT and underwent surgery so theirs data were further analyzed. Pathological complete response (pCR) was defi ned by absence of invasive cancer in resected breast and axillary tissue. Value of NLR was measured at the start of neoadjuvant treatment by dividing the number of neutrophils by the number of lymphocytes. Median age was 55 years. Pathological complete response (pCR) was achieved in 24% BC patients treated with NCT (47% luminal B, 53% hormone receptor negative BC). NLR ranged from 0.94 to 5.22. The median NLR values were similar in both pCR and non-pCR arm (2.3 vs. 2.38). Pathological complete response (pCR)was achieved in 31% patients with low NLR (<2.0) and in 19% of patients with higher NLR (>2.0). There were also no signifi cant diff erences regarding BC subtypes. There was no relationship between the pCR and pretreatment NLR values.

breast cancer, neoadjuvant therapy, inflammation, neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio

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