Abstract

INTRODUCTION

Although immunotherapies have made a small contribution to survival in recent years, there is a need for new treatments for small cell lung cancer (SCLC). We aimed to show the prognostic importance of the neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), which is a systemic inflammatory index, in addition to the known prognostic factors in SCLC in this study.

METHODS

We retrospectively evaluated a total of 203 SCLC patients. Demographic data, treatment regimes, disease progression and date of exitus were retrieved from patient files and the hospital automated records system. After the determination of factors affecting overall survival (OS) with univariate analysis, Cox regression model was performed to demonstrate the prognostic factors affecting OS.

RESULTS

The patients comprised 91.6% males and 8.4% of females with a mean age of 58±9.3 years. One-hundred-thirty-one (64.5%) patients had extensive-stage disease. The most frequently applied chemotherapy regime was cisplatin+etoposide, with a median of 6 cycles. The objective response rate (ORR) was 65.7%. As a result of Cox regression analysis, the extensive-stage disease, advanced age (≥65 years), high NLR (≥5), and high LDH level (≥550) were determined to be independent poor prognostic factors for OS.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

The results of the study showed that high NLR has negative impact on OS in patients with SCLC.