Neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio is a predictor of prognosis in patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer: a meta-analysis
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Updated: Feb 4, 2026

A Bioluminescent and Fluorescent Orthotopic Syngeneic Murine Model of Androgen-dependent and Castration-resistant Prostate Cancer
Published on: March 6, 2018
Zhun Wang1, Shuanghe Peng1, Hui Xie1
1Department of Urology, Tianjin Institute of Urology, The Second Hospital of Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin 300211, China, yuanjieniu2014@163.com, zhiqun_shang@tmu.edu.cn.
Background:
The prognostic value of neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) in patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) had been investigated in previous studies; however, the results remain inconsistent. This study was aimed to investigate the prognostic value of NLR in CRPC patients.
Materials And Methods:
Literature was identified from PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and Cochrane, which investigated the relationship between pretreatment NLR and prognosis in CRPC patients. HRs for overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) were extracted from eligible studies. Heterogeneity was assessed using the I2 value. The fixed-effects model was used if there was no evidence of heterogeneity; otherwise, the random-effects model was used. Publication bias was evaluated using Begg's funnel plot test.
Results:
A total of 5,705 patients from 16 studies were included in this analysis. The pooled results showed that an elevated NLR predict poor OS (pooled HR = 1.52, 95% CI: 1.41-1.63, P<0.001) and PFS (pooled HR = 1.50, 95% CI: 1.21-1.85, P<0.001) in patients with CRPC. Subgroup analysis revealed that an elevated NLR significantly predicted poor OS in Asian studies group (HR = 2.43, 95% CI: 1.47-4.01, P=0.001). The elevated NLR also significantly predicted poor PFS in Asian studies group (HR = 1.99, 95% CI: 1.30-3.06, P=0.002).
Conclusion:
This study suggests that an elevated NLR predict poor prognosis in patients with CRPC.
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