Prognostic Value of the Pretreatment Neutrophil-to-Lymphocyte Ratio in Different Phenotypes of Locally Advanced Breast Cancer During Neoadjuvant Systemic Treatment

PurposeNeutrophils are among the key cellular players in the inflammatory milieu produced in patients with breast cancer (BC), and strong evidence exists in terms of the prognostic value of assessing the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) in patients with BC. In this study we sought to determine whether the baseline NLR correlates with pathological complete response (pCR), disease-free survival (DFS), and overall survival (OS) in patients with locally advanced BC in the neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) setting.MethodsWe analyzed the pretreatment NLR from the first blood count of patients treated from 2007 to 2015 in terms of pCR, DFS, and OS in patients with locally advanced BC. Patients received standard medical care based on national guidelines.ResultsA total of 1519 patients were included in the study. Median age was 49 years (22-88). The cutoff point for NLR was 2.0. NLR was not associated with pCR or DFS. However, patients with high NLR had worse OS in the presence of triple-negative BC (105.9 months; 95% confidence interval CI], 100.2-111.5] vs. 98.7 months; 95% CI, 91.1-106.3; P = .029), Her2 overexpression (114.0 months; 95% CI, 110.5-118.0 vs. 100.8 months; 95% CI 95.7-105.9; P = .019), and residual disease after NAC for both phenotypes. Multivariate analysis showed that NLR was independently associated with OS (hazard ratio, 1.4; 95% CI, 1.02-1.95; P = .037).ConclusionsPretreatment NLR in patients with locally advanced BC correlates with OS as an independent prognostic factor. This influence depends on phenotype and residual disease. Routine assessment of this parameter could be an easy and affordable tool for defining prognosis.