The Prognostic Significance of the Serum Inflammatory Marker Ratios, Neutrophil-Lymphocyte, Platelet-Lymphocyte and Monocyte-Lymphocyte in Male Breast Cancer.

Abstract

Inflammation contributes to tumorigenesis and can be determined systemically from routine bloods collected through diagnostic workup by quantifying ratios of neutrophils, lymphocytes, platelets and monocytes. Retrospective data from 104 male breast cancer (BC) patients was collected. We measured pre-treatment neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) and monocyte-to-lymphocyte ratio (MLR) and quantitatively evaluated other male BC studies. Prognostic values of NLR and PLR were assessed by overall survival (OS). Elevated NLR (≥3.23) and PLR (≥129.53) were associated with significantly decreased OS. None of the previously reported cutoffs for NLR or PLR were significant when applied to our data. NLR remained associated with worse OS in a quantitative evaluation. Relationship between BMI and pre-operative NLR, PLR, and MLR ratios showed that severely obese patients tended to have higher PLR and MLR values. In conclusion, elevated NLR and PLR were linked to poorer outcomes in male BC. While more precise cut-off values are required to fully understand the potential of these biomarkers in managing BC in men, this study suggests that NLR and PLR may affect prognosis.