Perioperative change in neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio predicts the overall survival of patients with bladder cancer undergoing radical cystectomy.

Objective: To assess the prognostic value of perioperative changes in the neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio in patients with bladder cancer undergoing radical cystectomy.

Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis of 323 patients who had undergone radical cystectomy at our institutions. Overall survival was assessed with the Kaplan-Meier method and Cox regression analysis.

Results: Preoperative and postoperative neutrophil-lymphocyte ratios were significantly correlated with overall survival (both P = 0.0001). Changes in perioperative neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio stratified the patients into two groups, designated favorable- and poor-risk groups, with significantly different 5-year overall survival rates (75.1% and 41.4%, respectively; P < 0.0001). Multivariate Cox regression analyses showed that the perioperative change in neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio was an independent prognostic factor for overall survival (hazard ratio 2.56, 95% confidence interval 1.75-3.73; P < 0.001). Moreover, a decrease in neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio after adjuvant chemotherapy was associated with favorable overall survival in patients with high postoperative neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (P < 0.001), indicating that neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio may be a predictive factor for the efficacy of adjuvant chemotherapy.

Conclusions: Perioperative changes in neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio are significantly associated with overall survival in patients with bladder cancer undergoing radical cystectomy. Follow-up of the neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio change may be useful for the clinical management of patients after surgery.