Importance of the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio in muscle-invasive and non-muscle invasive bladder tumors

Abstract To research the importance of the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) in muscle-invasive bladder cancers (MIBC) and non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC). Data of 198 patients who underwent TUR-TM in our clinic were retrospectively evaluated. Patients were divided into two groups: group-I (MIBC) and group-II (NMIBC). The neutrophil and lymphocyte counts, NLR, hemoglobin and hematocrit values, tumor numbers, sizes and degrees of patients were recorded. Within the inter-group comparison, Mann-Whitney U test was used for the values stated with measuring, whereas a Chi-square test was used for the values stated with counting. The cut-off value for the NLR was determined with ROC curve. The NLR values of group-I and group-II were found as 4.14 ± 2.76 and 3.36 ± 2.88, respectively (p = 0.03). Whether the NLR carries a differential property was evaluated with ROC curve. The cut-off value was estimated as 3.96 according to the Youden index. With this value, sensitivity was found as 50%, specificity was 22.8% and AUC was 0.615 (p = 0.03). According to the data in this study, it can be said that Ta-T1 tumors are likely to be invasive by 50% if the NLR value is greater than 3.96.