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Prognostic value of preoperative peripheral neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio in patients with HBV-associated hepatocellular carcinoma after radical hepatectomy

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Abstract

Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), an inflammation index, is considered a prognostic predictor of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). This study aimed to evaluate the prognostic value of preoperative peripheral NLR in patients with hepatitis B virus (HBV)-associated HCC after radical hepatectomy. Clinical data were collected from patients with HBV-associated HCC who underwent radical hepatectomy. NLR was calculated from lymphocyte and neutrophil counts on preoperative routine blood tests. Demographics, laboratory analyses, and histopathological data were analyzed. A total of 282 patients were selected and divided by the cutoff NLR value of 2. Multivariate analysis showed that NLR > 2 was an independent prognostic predictor of poor disease-free survival [hazard ratio (HR) = 1.362; 95 % confidence interval (CI) 1.025–1.811; P = 0.033] and overall survival (HR = 1.434; 95 % CI 1.044–1.970; P = 0.023). NLR had a good predictive value for prognosis in patients with HBV-associated HCC who had normal serum AFP level. These results suggested that NLR is an independent indicator of both disease-free survival and overall survival in patients with HBV-associated HCC after radical hepatectomy, including AFP-normal patients.

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Acknowledgments

This study was founded by the Grants of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 81071892 and 81172039) and the Science and Technology Key Project of Guangdong Province (No. 2010B031500026). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. We thank Professor Stephen Tomlinson from the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Medical University of South Carolina, for review and correction of our manuscript.

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The authors declared no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510080, Guangdong, People’s Republic of China

    Shun-Jun Fu, Shun-Li Shen, Shao-Qiang Li, Yun-Peng Hua, Wen-Jie Hu, Li-Jian Liang & Bao-Gang Peng

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  1. Shun-Jun Fu
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Correspondence to Bao-Gang Peng.

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Shun-Jun Fu and Shun-Li Shen contributed equally to this article.

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Fu, SJ., Shen, SL., Li, SQ. et al. Prognostic value of preoperative peripheral neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio in patients with HBV-associated hepatocellular carcinoma after radical hepatectomy. Med Oncol 30, 721 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12032-013-0721-6

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