The role of neutrophil lymphocyte ratio as A tumor marker in differentiated thyroid cancer

The increase of the incidence of differentiated thyroid cancer in the last few decades draws attention to this issue. My aim in this study was to find the answer to the question whether neutrophil lymphocyte ratio (NLR), which is an inflammatory marker, could be of benefit predicting the malignant potential in differentiated thyroid cancer before thyroidectomy. To find the answer to this question we analyzed 50 thyroid papillary cancer, 35 thyroid follicular cancer and 50 nodular goiter patients' information retrospectively via file scanning among those admitted to the Karadeniz Technical University Faculty of Medicine Farabi Hospital between January 2006–August 2015. According to the findings reached by analyzing this data, there wasn't a statistically significant increase in NLR in the differentiated thyroid cancer group in comparison with the control group. There were only a few studies on this subject according to our literature research and only one of them has found a statistically significant increase in NLR in papillary thyroid cancer. To find the answer to the question whether NLR can be used as a tumor marker in differentiated thyroid cancer, we need more and larger sample studies.