Perioperative changes of inflammation-based biomarker for predicting the prognosis in colorectal cancer patients: a retrospective analysis

Introduction
Perioperative inflammatory markers, including the neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelet-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), are associated with oncological prognosis. However, their changes in colorectal cancer surgery for predicting the prognosis are rarely investigated.

Aim
To compare perioperative changes to evaluate the prognostic significance of patients’ survival.

Material and methods
Retrospective clinical data and baseline laboratory parameters of 183 colorectal cancer (CRC) patients who underwent curative surgery were collected between January 2007 and January 2013. The clinicopathological characteristics were compared. Statistical analysis was used to identify the predictive changes of perioperative NLR and PLR associated with survival prognosis.

Results
ROC analysis indicated that perioperative NLR/PLR showed higher predictive accuracy for prognosis, and the optimal cut-off values of pre-NLR, post-NLR, pre-PLR, and post-PLR were 2.94, 4.32, 184.29, and 212.37, respectively. Kaplan-Meier analysis suggested that the four groups stratified by perioperative changes had significantly different recurrence-free survival and overall survival (p < 0.05). Univariate and multivariable analysis revealed that patients with higher cancer stage, lymph node metastasis, and perioperative change of NLR/PLR (HH, LH) had significant association with poor prognosis of RFS and OS (all p < 0.05).

Conclusions
Perioperative NLR and PLR might be good predictors for prognosis in CRC patients who have undergone curative surgery, which could guide the customised therapeutic strategy. Furthermore, their assessment could contribute to accurately predicting oncologic outcomes and provide an in-depth understanding of the patients, which could guide the operational strategy.