Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte and hypopharyngeal cancer prognosis: System review and meta-analysis

Several studies have reported the value of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) for the prognosis of hypopharyngeal cancer. However, contradictory findings have also been published. We aimed to clarify the effect of NLR on the prognosis of hypopharyngeal cancer through meta-analysis. Systematic search of PubMed and other database with study selection and data extraction. The combined hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated using STATA, applying either a fixed-effects or random-effects model. Meta-regression, subgroup analysis, and sensitivity analysis were used to analyze sources of heterogeneity. Publication bias were also assessed. This meta-analysis included 2232 patients with hypopharyngeal cancer from seven studies. The combined HR (OS, HR = 1.80, 95CI%, 1.14-2.82; PFS, HR = 1.88, 95CI%, 1.26-2.79) suggested that high NLR was associated with poor overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS). Pretreatment NLR can be used as an effective serological indicator to assess the prognosis of patients with hypopharyngeal cancer.