Systematic Review

Prognostic significance of platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma: a meta-analysis

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Department I of Medical Oncology Center, Zhongshan Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, People’s Hospital of Zhongshan City, Zhongshan, Guangdong 528403, PR China

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Weineng Feng

Department of Head & Neck/Thoracic Medical Oncology, The First People’s Hospital of Foshan, Foshan, Guangdong 528000, PR China

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Zhihua Ye

Department I of Medical Oncology Center, Zhongshan Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, People’s Hospital of Zhongshan City, Zhongshan, Guangdong 528403, PR China

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Ying Wei

Department I of Medical Oncology Center, Zhongshan Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, People’s Hospital of Zhongshan City, Zhongshan, Guangdong 528403, PR China

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Lamei Li

Department I of Medical Oncology Center, Zhongshan Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, People’s Hospital of Zhongshan City, Zhongshan, Guangdong 528403, PR China

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Yingyu Yang

Department I of Medical Oncology Center, Zhongshan Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, People’s Hospital of Zhongshan City, Zhongshan, Guangdong 528403, PR China

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Published Online:2 Dec 2019https://doi.org/10.2217/fon-2019-0520

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Abstract

Aim: Several studies reported the association of platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) and prognosis in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), but the results remain controversial. Therefore, we investigated the prognostic value of PLR in NPC through meta-analysis. Materials & methods: A comprehensive literature search of PubMed, Embase and Web of Science was performed. Results: A total of 9 studies comprising of 3459 patients with NPC were included. The data demonstrated that an increased PLR predicted poor overall survival, progression-free survival and distant metastasis-free survival. There was no significant association between PLR and sex, age, T stage, N stage, tumor node metastasis (TNM) stage or intensity-modulated radiotherapy. Conclusion: This meta-analysis revealed that PLR might be a potential predicative biomarker of poor prognosis in patients with NPC.

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Papers of special note have been highlighted as: • of interest; •• of considerable interest

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Vol. 16, No. 5

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History

Received 28 August 2019

Accepted 30 October 2019

Published online 2 December 2019

Published in print February 2020

Information

Keywords

Author contributions

J Zhang collected and analyzed the data and wrote the paper. W Feng and Z Ye analyzed the data and participated in the writing of manuscript. Y Wei and L Li assisted with the data analyses. J Zhang and Y Yang conceived and designed this study. All authors reviewed the paper, read and approved the final manuscript.

Financial & competing interests disclosure

The authors have no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties.

We would like to thank Editage (www.editage.com) for English language editing.

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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