Asociación del índice neutrófilo-linfocito y el estadio clínico en el diagnóstico inicial de melanoma

Objectives

Measure and compare the neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) with clinical stage of melanoma at diagnosis. To assess the association between NLR at initial diagnosis of melanoma and clinical stage at different stages of patients from a private cancer centre of Mexico City.

Methods

An observational, analytical, retrospective study was conducted on 63 patients with a melanoma diagnosis by reviewing medical records. The study included all patients diagnosed with melanoma biopsy reported in the period from 2002 to 2015.

Results

Of the 63 patients studied, a mean LNR of 4.1 (SD 6.44) was obtained. The median was 2.7, and a correlation of 58% was found between LNR (> 2.7) and the outcome of death in the subgroup of patients in clinical stage > IIA.

Conclusions

This study shows a trend association between LNR (> 2.7) and clinical stage, which was not statistically significant due to the limited sample size. A single correlation was found with the subgroup of patients with advanced disease and an LNR > 2.7 and outcome of death, but not in the other variables (progression and recurrence). This work is objective biochemical proof that this accessible and inexpensive tool could provide prognostic information for advanced-stage melanoma.