Correlation between neutrophils changes and prognosis of colorectal cancer

Objective To investigate the prognostic value of neutrophil changes in patients with colorectal cancer. Methods The neutrophils in patients with colorectal cancer were classified into two types: peripheral blood neutrophils and tumor-associated neutrophils (TANs). Peripheral blood neutrophils are expressed as neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio, NLR). Results The 5 year′s survival rates of patients with high and low NLR were 75.2% and 88.2%, respectively. The 5 year′s survival rates of patients with high and low TANs were 97.6% and 64.2%, respectively. The survival rates of patients with low NLR and high TANs; high NLR and high infiltrating TANs; low NLR and low infiltrating TANs; and high NLR and low infiltrating TANs were respectively 100%, 95.7%, 76.4% and 53.5%. With the two joining together the ability to distinguish long-term prognosis of patients was significantly better than any one alone. Multivariate regression analysis showed that, high peripheral blood NLR, low TANs infiltration, tumor located in the rectum, TNM staging are independent risk factors for colorectal cancer prognosis. Conclusions NLR in preoperative peripheral blood combined with infiltrating TANs in colorectal cancer tissues can be used as a prognostic indicator for patients with colorectal cancer. High NLR in preoperative peripheral blood combined with low infiltrating TANs in colorectal cancer tissue predicts poor prognosis. Key words: Colorectal neoplasms; Leukocytes; Prognosis