Prognostic signiifcance ofthe pre-chemotherapy lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio inpatients withpreviously untreated metastatic colorectal cancer receiving FOLFOX chemotherapy

摘要

Background:As a surrogate marker of systemic inlfammation, the lymphocyte‑to‑monocyte ratio (LMR) is an independent prognostic factor for various malignancies. This study investigated the prognostic signiifcance of the pre‑chemotherapy LMR in patients with previously untreated metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) receiving chemotherapy. Methods:The present study included newly diagnosed mCRC patients treated between January 2005 and Decem‑ber 2013 with FOLFOX chemotherapy, speciifcally oxaliplatin 180mg/m2 on day 1, with leucovorin 400mg/m2 administered as a 2‑hour infusion before the administration of 5‑lfuorouracil 400mg/m2 as an intravenous bolus injection, and 5‑lfuorouracil 2400mg/m2 as a 46‑h infusion immediately after 5‑lfuorouracil bolus injection. The LMR was calculated as the absolute count of lymphocytes divided by the absolute count of monocytes. COX proportional hazards analysis was performed to evaluate the association of LMR with survival outcomes. Results:A total of 488 patients were included. Patients with high pre‑chemotherapy LMR experienced signiif‑cant improvements in progression‑free survival (PFS, 9.2 vs. 7.6months,P<0.001) and overall survival (OS, 19.4 vs. 16.6months,P<0.001) compared with patients with low pre‑chemotherapy LMR. Subsequent COX multivariate analysis showed that high pre‑chemotherapy LMR (≥3.11) was an independent favorable prognostic factor for PFS and OS. Additionally, patients whose LMR remained high (high–high subgroup), increased (low–high subgroup), or decreased (high–low subgroup) following chemotherapy showed better results in terms of PFS and OS than patients whose LMR remained low (low–low subgroup) after chemotherapy. Conclusions:For patients with previously untreated mCRC receiving FOLFOX chemotherapy, an elevated pre‑chem‑otherapy LMR is an independent favorable prognostic factor for PFS and OS, and changes in the LMR before and after chemotherapy seem to predict the beneift of chemotherapy.