Prognostic role of neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio in operable esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

Table 1 Clinicopathological features according to neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio n (%)

Variable	NLR
	Cases	≤3.0	> 3.0	P value1
Age (yr)				0.112
≤ 57.02	201 (54.2)	167 (83.1)	34 (16.9)
> 57.0	170 (45.8)	130 (76.5)	40 (23.5)
Sex				0.562
Female	95 (25.6)	78 (82.1)	17 (17.9)
Male	276 (74.4)	219 (79.3)	57 (20.7)
Location				0.372
Upper	23 (6.2)	19 (82.6)	4 (17.4)
Middle	256 (69.0)	200 (78.1)	56 (21.9)
Lower	92 (24.8)	78 (84.8)	14 (15.2)
Differentiation				0.487
Well	58 (15.6)	46 (79.3)	12 (20.7)
Moderate	245 (66.0)	193 (78.8)	52 (21.2)
Poor	68 (18.3)	58 (85.3)	10 (14.7)
pT status				0.007
T1	17 (4.6)	15 (88.2)	2 (11.8)
T2	88 (23.7)	80 (90.9)	8 (9.1)
T3	266 (71.7)	202 (75.9)	64 (24.1)
pN status				0.592
N0	199 (53.6)	163 (81.9)	36 (18.1)
N1	102 (27.5)	82 (80.4)	20 (19.6)
N2	55 (14.8)	41 (74.5)	14 (25.5)
N3	15 (4.0)	11 (73.3)	4 (26.7)
Stage				0.566
IB	20 (5.4)	17 (85.0)	3 (15.0)
IIA	58 (15.6)	50 (86.2)	8 (13.8)
IIB	148 (39.9)	119 (80.4)	29 (19.6)
IIIA	83 (22.4)	66 (79.5)	17 (20.5)
IIIB	47 (12.7)	34 (72.3)	13 (27.7)
IIIC	15 (4.0)	11 (73.3)	4 (26.7)
Total	371 (100)	297 (80.1)	74 (19.9)

¹χ² test;

²Median age. NLR: Neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio; pN: Pathologic node; pT: Pathologic tumor.

Table 2 Univariate analysis of factors associated with recurrence-free survival and cancer-specific survival

Variable	Cases (n)	CSS (mo)			RFS (mo)
		Mean	Median	P value	Mean	Median	P value
Age (yr)				0.259			0.230
≤ 57.01	201	61.9	42		54.7	32
> 57.0	170	59.1	70		53.9	66
Sex				0.070			0.113
Female	95	72.2	NR		62.3	74
Male	276	59.5	45		52.8	34
Location				0.033			0.127
Upper	23	70.4	NR		52.2	58
Middle	256	52.7	41		48.8	35
Lower	92	74.8	NR		67.5	74
Differentiation				0.014			0.005
Well	58	55.0	55		52.1	58
Moderate	245	67.9	70		59.0	65
Poor	68	44.0	25		38.1	22
pT status				0.003			0.008
T1	17	60.5	NR		55.5	NR
T2	88	71.6	74		65.9	77
T3	266	59.4	39		51.1	29
pN status				< 0.001			< 0.001
N0	199	80.9	NR		71.7	87
N1	102	44.1	41		40.1	29
N2	55	25.0	15		21.2	10
N3	15	20.7	11		12.0	6
Stage				< 0.001			< 0.001
I	20	64.1	NR		62.6	NR
II	206	77.4	NR		68.3	85
III	145	32.7	21		29.0	15
NLR				< 0.001			0.001
≤ 3.0	297	68.3	70		61.0	58
> 3.0	74	41.2	24		38.3	17

¹Median age. CSS: Cancer-specific survival: NLR: Neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio; NR: Not reached; pN: Pathologic node; pT: Pathologic tumor; RFS: Recurrence-free survival.

Table 3 Results of multivariable cox regression analysis

Prognostic factor	HR	95%CI	P value
CSS
Location (upper vs middle vs lower)	0.888	0.677-1.164	0.389
Differentiation (well vs moderate vs poor)	1.156	0.911-1.468	0.233
pT status ( T1 vs T2 vs T3)	1.101	0.778-1.559	0.586
pN status (N0 vs N1 vs N2 vs N3)	1.615	1.266-2.061	< 0.001
Stage (I vs II vs III)	1.460	0.907-2.351	0.120
NLR ( ≤ 3.0 vs > 3.0)	1.591	1.132-2.235	0.007
RFS
Differentiation (well vs moderate vs poor)	1.177	0.934-1.482	0.167
pT status (T1 vs T2 vs T3)	1.088	0.782-1.515	0.615
pN status (N0 vs N1 vs N2 vs N3)	1.703	1.337-2.169	< 0.001
Stage (I vs II vs III)	1.336	0.846-2.110	0.215
NLR ( ≤ 3.0 vs > 3.0)	1.525	1.094-2.126	0.013

NLR: Neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio; pN: Pathologic node; pT: Pathologic tumor; CSS: Cancer-specific survival; RFS: Recurrence-free survival.

Table 4 Univariate analysis of neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio stratified by tumor staging n (%)

TNM stage	Cases	P value
		CSS	RFS
IB	20 (5.4)	0.590	0.590
IIA	58 (15.6)	0.987	0.977
IIB	148 (39.9)	0.082	0.082
IIIA	83 (22.4)	0.008	0.008
IIIB	47 (12.7)	0.356	0.596
IIIC	15 (4.0)	0.440	0.700

CSS: Cancer-specific survival; NLR: Neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio; RFS: Recurrence-free survival; TNM: Tumor-node-metastasis.