Platelet levels and neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio in thyroid nodules with and without cancer diagnosis

Özet

Nodular formation of thyroid tissue is a very common endocrinologic pathology. Approximately 5% of thyroid nodules can prove to be cancerous. The usefulness of mean platelet volüme(MPV) and neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is determined as an indicator of immunological response and subclinical inflammation in recent years. In this study we evaluate the association of thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), platelet, mean platelet volüme(MPV) and NLR levels between the thyroid nodules that turn into cancer and do not convert. Our study consisted of patients with thyroid nodules that converted to thyroid cancer (n = 100) and didn’t convert to thyroid cancer (n = 100). These patients were selected retrospectively using the Hospital Information System. The TSH, NLR, platelet and MPV levels were recorded preoperatively and the difference between them was evaluated statistically with SPSS 21. Differences between groups were examined with using Mann Whitney U Test. P <0.05 were considered significant. Platelet, TSH and neutrophil values were significantly higher in the nodular group which convert to thyroid cancer (p <0.05). In addition, the likelihood of being thyroid cancer increased 1.47 times with a unit increase in the NLR variable, and 1.008 times with a unit increase in the platelet variable. High levels of platelet and neutrophil in thyroid cancer may be due to increased cytokine level changes. It can be shown that data obtained from total blood count, which is an easy, inexpensive and reproducible assay, can be used as a marker in predicting prognosis with further studies.