Prognostic biomarkers provide essential information about a patient’s overall outcome. However, existing biomarkers are limited in terms of either sample collection, such as requiring tissue specimens, or the process, such as prolonged time for analysis. In view of the need for convenient and non-invasive prognostic biomarkers for oral cancer, we aimed to investigate the prognostic values of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio, and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio in patient survival. We also aimed to explore the associations of these ratios with the clinicopathologic characteristics of Japanese oral squamous cell carcinoma patients. This study was a non-randomized retrospective cohort study in a tertiary referral center. We included 433 patients (246 men, 187 women) who underwent radical surgery for oral cancers between January 2001 and December 2013. We evaluated various risk factors for poor prognosis including neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio, and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio with univariate and multivariate analyses. The disease-specific survival and overall survival rates of patients were compared among the factors and biomarkers. In multivariable Cox proportional hazards analysis, high neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (hazard ratio 2.87, 95% confidence interval 1.59–5.19, P < 0.001), moderately or poorly differentiated histology (hazard ratio 2.37, 95% confidence interval 1.32–4.25, P < 0.001), and extranodal extension (hazard ratio 1.95, 95% confidence interval 1.13–3.35, P = 0.016) were independent predictors of disease-specific survival. High neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (hazard ratio 2.30, 95% confidence interval 1.42–3.72, P < 0.001), moderately or poorly differentiated (hazard ratio 1.72, 95% confidence interval 1.07–2.76, P = 0.025), and extranodal extension (hazard ratio 1.79, 95% confidence interval 1.13–2.84, P = 0.013) were independent predictors of overall survival. Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio might be a potential independent prognostic factor in Japanese oral squamous cell carcinoma patients.

中文翻译：

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中性粒细胞-淋巴细胞比率与口腔癌预后不良相关：一项回顾性研究。

预后生物标志物可提供有关患者总体预后的基本信息。但是，现有的生物标志物在样本采集（例如需要组织标本）或过程（例如分析时间延长）方面受到限制。考虑到口腔癌需要方便，无创的预后生物标志物，我们旨在研究嗜中性粒细胞与淋巴细胞之比，淋巴细胞与单核细胞之比以及血小板与淋巴细胞之比在患者生存中的预后价值。我们还旨在探讨这些比率与日本口腔鳞状细胞癌患者的临床病理特征的关系。这项研究是在三级转诊中心进行的非随机回顾性队列研究。我们纳入了433名患者（246名男性，187位女性）于2001年1月至2013年12月间接受了口腔癌的根治性手术。我们评估了中性粒细胞与淋巴细胞比，淋巴细胞与单核细胞比，血小板与淋巴细胞比的单因素预后不良的各种危险因素。多元分析。在因素和生物标志物之间比较了患者的疾病特异性生存率和总生存率。在多变量Cox比例风险分析中，中性粒细胞与淋巴细胞比率高（风险比2.87，95％置信区间1.59-5.19，P <0.001），组织学的分化程度中等或低（风险比2.37，95％置信区间1.32-4.25， P <0.001）和结外扩展（危险比1.95，95％置信区间1.13-3.35，P = 0.016）是疾病特异性存活率的独立预测因子。中性粒细胞与淋巴细胞比率高（危险比2.30，95％置信区间1.42-3.72，P <0.001），分化程度中等或差（危险比1.72，95％置信区间1.07-2.76，P = 0.025），并且结外扩展（危险比1.79，95％置信区间1.13-2.84，P = 0.013）是总生存率的独立预测因子。中性粒细胞与淋巴细胞的比例可能是日本口腔鳞状细胞癌患者潜在的独立预后因素。