Complete blood count at the time of diagnosis is not predictive to survival in prostatic cancer

Introduction: Numerous observations suggest that several elements of the complete blood count (CBC) predict disease survival in certain cancers. Objective: To evaluate the relationship between neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), white blood cell count (WBC) and length of survival in prostate cancer patients. Method: We analyzed the relationship between clinical data (age at diagnosis, prostate-specific antigen [PSA] level, TNM score, Gleason score, comorbidities and CBC elements) and survival time in prostatic cancer patients diagnosed between 2000 and 2005 at the General Urology Department of Uzsoki Street Hospital using Cox regression. Results: In our analysis, we analyzed data from 97 prostate cancer patients; 82 of them died, 15 are still alive. No single element of CBC at the time of prostatic cancer diagnosis differed between the two groups (deceased or not deceased). Only patient age (p = 0.004), PSA level (p = 0.033) at the time of diagnosis and Gleason score (p = 0.033) had a significant effect on the length of survival. The analysis of subgroups created according to the length of survival ( i.e., death within 1, 2, 5 and 10 years) revealed no difference in any of the hematological parameters either. Discussion: Besides the factors previously identified in the literature (PSA, Gleason score, age), CBC elements are not associated with survival in the general prostate cancer population. Conclusion: : In prostate cancer, the elements of CBC cannot predict the length of survival or which patients will survive after an average of 20 years following the diagnosis of prostate cancer.