Prognostic value of circulating tumor cells combined with neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma

Table 2 The correlation between circulating tumor cell PD-L1 (+) and neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio with clinical variables

Variable	CTC PD-L1 (+) ≤ 1, n = 68	CTC PD-L1 (+) > 1, n = 56	P value	NLR ≤ 3.89, n = 67	NLR > 3.89, n = 57	P value
Sex			0.798			0.768
Male	61	51		61	51
Female	7	5		6	6
Age (yr)			0.705			0.569
< 60	39	34		41	32
≥ 60	29	22		26	25
HBV			0.218			0.765
Negative	33	21		30	24
Positive	35	35		37	33
Smoke			0.470			0.207
Negative	36	26		37	25
Positive	32	30		30	32
Alcohol			0.264			0.337
Negative	42	29		41	30
Positive	26	27		26	27
Hypertension			0.849			0.739
Negative	52	42		50	44
Positive	16	14		17	13
Diabetes mellitus			0.866			0.535
Negative	59	48		59	48
Positive	9	8		8	9
Liver cirrhosis			0.020			0.011
Negative	49	29		49	29
Positive	19	27		18	28
Child-Pugh class			0.898			0.751
A	36	29		36	29
B	32	27		31	28
BCLC stage			0.459			0.430
B	6	3		6	3
C	62	53		61	54
ALBI grade			0.214			0.612
1	38	26		37	27
2	29	26		28	27
3	1	4		2	3
Serum AFP, ng/mL			0.153			0.017
< 400	45	30		47	28
≥ 400	23	26		20	29
Number of tumors			0.472			0.549
< 2	19	19		19	19
≥ 2	49	37		48	38
Tumor diameter, cm			0.490			0.847
< 5	25	24		27	22
≥ 5	43	32		40	35
PVTT			0.432			0.038
Negative	40	29		43	26
Positive	28	27		24	31
Lymph node metastasis			0.359			0.929
Negative	26	17		23	20
Positive	42	39		44	37
Extrahepatic metastases			0.590			0.454
Negative	48	37		44	41
Positive	20	19		23	16

HBV: Hepatitis B virus; BCLC: Barcelona clinic liver cancer; ALBI: Albumin-bilirubin; AFP: Alpha-fetoprotein; PVTT: Portal vein tumor thrombus; NLR: Neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio; CTC: Circulating tumor cell.