Evaluation of the relationship between neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio and platelet/lymphocyte ratio and prognosis in operated lung cancer cases

Although surgical and oncological treatment methods have been developed today, lung cancer still has the highest incidence and mortality rates worldwide. Currently, surgery is the first treatment option for non-small cell lung cancer diagnosed at an early stage in patients who meet the criteria for surgery. Inflammation prepares the necessary ground for tumour formation at almost all stages of cancer development. The presence of inflammation cells in tumour tissue shows this relationship. Neutrophil, lymphocyte and platelet counts of blood cells may vary in this process. In our study, we aimed to evaluate the effect of neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio and platelet/lymphocyte ratio on the prognosis of operated non-small cell lung cancer cases. We retrospectively analysed 88 patients who underwent surgery for non-small cell lung cancer between January 2013 and January 2018 in the Department of Thoracic Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Eskisehir Osmangazi University. When the data obtained were evaluated in terms of disease stage, chemotherapy-radiotherapy protocol and smoking, it was found to be statistically significant in terms of survival probability. There are literature data suggesting that neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio and platelet/lymphocyte ratio can be used as prognostic markers for survival prediction. However, no statistically significant difference was found between neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio and survival probability in our study of 88 patients. There was also no statistically significant difference between platelet/lymphocyte ratio and survival probability. Due to the benefits of these inflammatory markers such as being easily reproducible in routine and low cost, they can be used as a guide in prognosis prediction when supported by large and multicentre series including more cases and also prospective studies.