Do the ınflammatory markers have a prognostic role in an elderly patient population diagnosed with non-muscle ınvasive bladder cancer?

Objective: To evaluate whether the systemic immune-inflammation index (SII), neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), and De-Ritis ratio (DRR) are determinants of progression-free survival (PFS), recurrence-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) in patients aged ≥ 70 years diagnosed with non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC).

Method: The study included 173 elderly patients diagnosed with NMIBC between January 2015 and March 2022. The clinical and pathological data of the patients were examined. Cox regression analysis was performed.

Results: The patient's mean age was 75.6 ± 4.57 years. A statistically significant correlation was determined between higher mean NLR, PLR, and SII values and PFS (p = 0.04, p = 0.009, and p = 0.007, respectively) and OS (p = 0.001, p = 0.003, and p < 0.001, respectively). The multivariate analysis results showed that tumor size (≥ 3 cm) and PLR (> 144.6) were independent risk factors for PFS (HR: 2.09, p = 0.03; HR:3.2, p = 0.01, respectively), the presence of multiple tumors for RFS (HR: 1.73, p = 0.01), and comorbid diseases for OS (HR: 2.18, p = 0.006).

Conclusion: Inflammatory parameters were found to have no independent effects on RFS and OS in patients of advanced age with NMIBC, and only PLR could be used to predict PFS.