Does preoperative neutrophil/lymphocyte rate have an effect on survival of the bladder cancer patients who received radical cystectomy?

Introduction: Radical cystectomy (RC) is the standard treatment model in invasive bladder cancer patients. Risk definitions before RC is mainly based on pathological results. Neutrophil/lymphocyte (N/L) rate is one of the inflammation markers. Some other studies reported negative prognostic results with increased N/L rates. In our study, we reviewed the relationship between preoperative N/L rate and clinicopathological results following RC.

Materials And Methods: Data gathered from 296 bladder cancer patients that received RC between 2002 and 2012 were retrospectively reviewed. All patients received preoperative routine hematological and biochemical tests and metastasis screening. All patients were treated with radical cystoprostatectomy and standard pelvic lymph node dissection. The cutoff value for N/L rate was calculated using a web-based "cutoff finder" software.

Results: Patient mean age was calculated as 65.7 years. Mean follow-up period was 24.5 (2-84) months. Cancer-related death was seen in 132 (44.6%) patients. Multivariate analysis showed age, lymph node metastasis, and low N/L rate as significant in cancer-specific survival.

Conclusion: In our study, age, lymph node metastasis presence, and preoperative low N/L rates were detected as independent risk factors in RC cases. N/L rate, which is relatively easy to assess during preoperative period, could be beneficial in planning postoperative adjuvant treatments in those patients.