The Predictive Role of the Neutrophil/Lymphocyte Ratio in Survival with Multiple Myeloma: A Single Center Experience.

Background: Recent studies have shown a positive correlation between tumor-related immune response markers and the poor outcome in solid tumors. In this study, we aimed to investigate the neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR) in multiple myeloma. To the best of our knowledge, this would be the second report concerning this topic.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the data for 52 multiple myeloma patients. The patients were grouped using the baseline NLR as NLR ≤ 1.72 and NLR > 1.72 using receiver operating characteristic analysis to determine a cut off. We compared the two groups in terms of both the known prognostic factors of the myeloma and the overall survival (OS).

Results: Our study showed that NLR is associated with C-reactive protein and β2 microglobulin (P = 0.02 and P = 0.001, respectively). The patients with NLR > 1.72 had significantly worse stages, performance status, and kidney functions. The whole group's OS was estimated as 35.1 months while the patients with lower NLR had better OS when compared with those with NLR > 1.72 (42.75 and 26.14 months, respectively, P: 0.04).

Conclusion: Neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio, which is associated with stage, performance status, and kidney functions, can be used in daily practice as a predictor for survival in multiple myeloma. Simply adding NLR to the routine charts may enrich our data for larger studies.