Neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio is useful for the prognosis of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma

There is increasing evidence that neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio(NLR)may play a role in predicting recurrence in patients with hepatitis B virus-related hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC)after liver transplantation.In the original study by Yan et al,it was aimed to determine whether an elevated NLR is associated with tumor recurrence.Total tumor size(>9 cm)and macro-vascular invasion were found to be more significant than NLR according to the multivariate logistic regression analysis.Therefore,substantive significance should be emphasized rather than NLR because total tumor size and macro-vascular invasion are easier and more expressive than NLR in assessing HCC recurrence.NLR and platelet-lymphocyte ratio(PLR)are markers which are easy to obtain and can be used as inflammation indicators.Moreover,assessment of both NLR and PLR may add some value as a good predictor of risk for post-liver transplantation HCC recurrence.However,while the study was constructed on whole blood analysis,further details about the features and performance characteristics of the whole-blood analyzer,and preanalytical/analytical variables should also be mentioned.