Neutrophil-to-Lymphocyte Ratio and Platelet Count Predict Long-Term Outcome of Stage IIIC Epithelial Ovarian Cancer.

Background/aims: Prognostic value of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelet count (PC) in patients with International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage IIIC epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) is controversial.

Methods: A total of 370 stage IIIC EOC patients who underwent primary debulking surgery (PDS) at the Department of Gynecology of Liaoning Cancer Hospital and Institute between January 2003 and August 2016 and had full information were involved. Patients were stratified into a high NLR (H-NLR) group versus a low NLR (L-NLR) group and a high PC (H-PC) group versus a low PC (L-PC) group according to cutoff values calculated through receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. Prognostic values of NLR and PC for progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were assessed.

Results: We identified the optimal cut-off value of 3.08 for NLR and 289.5*109/L for PC. The median PFS and OS of the patients with H-NLR were shorter than L-NLR (PFS: 16.9 months vs. 19.5 months, hazard ratio [HR] 1.3, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.03-1.63, P = 0.022; OS: 33.5 months vs. 46.8 months, HR 1.3, 95% CI 1.01-1.66, P = 0.001). The median PFS and OS of the patients with H-PC were shorter than L-PC (PFS: 15.3 months vs. 21.6 months, HR 1.3, 95% CI 1.04-1.63, P < 0.001; OS: 37.3 months vs. 46.1 months, HR 1.14, 95% CI 0.89-1.46, P = 0.306).

Conclusions: H-NLR and H-PC could predict poor long-term outcome of patients with FIGO stage III EOC.