Neutrophil/Lymphocyte Ratio and Prognosis in Patients with Non-Metastatic Nasopharyngeal Cancer: A Single-Center Experience

Abstract

OBJECTIVENasopharyngeal cancer’s presentation and prognosis are variable. Even patients with the same clinical stagecan have very different prognoses. The aim of the present study was to investigate clinical outcomes andprognosis, especially the effects of neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR), of non-metastatic nasopharyngealcarcinoma (NPC) in patients receiving radiotherapy (RT)±chemotherapy (CT) between March 2006 andAugust 2017 in the Eskişehir Osmangazi University Medical Faculty of Radiation Oncology Department.METHODSSixty-two patients with non-metastatic NPC treated with RT±CT were retrospectively evaluated. Patientcharacteristics, such as age, gender, Karnofsky Performance Status (KPS), T phase, N phase, tumor,lymph node, and metastasis phase, histopathologic subgroup, tumor size, NLR, and hemoglobin value,and treatment characteristics, such as concurrent/adjuvant CT status, RT intermission time, and RTtotal time, were investigated.RESULTSMedian overall survival (OS) was 55 (10–134) months, whereas median disease-free survival was 44(6–129) months. The median duration of local control was 48 (6–129) months. Eleven (17.7%) patients developed distant metastases. Distant metastases were detected in 6 (9.7%) patients who had localcontrol. Statistically significant results were obtained between general survival and sex (p=0.015), KPS(p