Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio after neoadjuvant chemotherapy as an independent prognostic factor in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

Studies have shown that neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) followed by surgical resection improves the survival of patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC), and that the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) nay be a prognostic biomarker in various types of cancer. Despite the noTable changes in the tumor and its microenvironment during NAC, it remains unclear how the NLR changes and which values (before or after NAC) best predict prognosis. The present study aimed to analyze changes in the NLR before and after NAC, and to determine which was a better prognostic factor. This study retrospectively analyzed 338 consecutive patients with ESCC who received NAC followed by curative resection. NLRs before (pre-NLR) and after (post-NLR) NAC were calculated, after which the impact of NAC on NLR, overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS), as well as the relationship between hematological toxicities and NLR, was evaluated. Cutoff values for pre- and post-NLR were 3.7 and 2.5, respectively. Patients with high post-NLR had a worse OS (P=0.0001) and 3-year RFS (P=0.03) than those with low post-NLR. Multivariate analysis identified high post-NLR, pN1 and clinical response as independent prognostic factors. In conclusion, post-NLR was revealed as a better prognostic factor than pre-NLR for patients receiving NAC followed by surgical resection.