Neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search

In medicine neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is used as a marker of subclinical inflammation. It is calculated by dividing the number of neutrophils by number of lymphocytes, usually from peripheral blood sample,[1] but sometimes also from cells that infiltrate tissue, such as tumor.[2]


Prognosis of cardiovascular diseases[edit]

Higher NLR is independent predictor of mortality in patients undergoing angiography or cardiac revascularization.[1]

Prognostic marker in cancer[edit]

Increased NLR is associated with poor prognosis of various cancers,[3] such as esophageal cancer [2] or advanced pancreatic cancer.[4]

Reference values[edit]


Notes and references[edit]

  1. ^ a b Wang X (Mar 2014). "Neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio in relation to risk of all-cause mortality and cardiovascular events among patients undergoing angiography or cardiac revascularization : A meta-analysis of observational studies". Atherosclerosis. 234 (1): 206–13. doi:10.1016/j.atherosclerosis.2014.03.003. PMID 24681815. 
  2. ^ a b Wang J (Jan 2014). "The clinical significance of tumor-infiltrating neutrophils and neutrophil-to-CD8+lymphocyte ratio in patients with resectable esophageal squamous cell carcinoma". J. Transl. Med. 12: 7. doi:10.1186/1479-5876-12-7. PMC 3895663Freely accessible. PMID 24397835. 
  3. ^ Templeton AJ, McNamara MG, Šeruga B, Vera-Badillo FE, Aneja P, Ocaña A, Leibowitz-Amit R, Sonpavde G, Knox JJ, Tran B, Tannock IF, Amir E (2014). "Prognostic role of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio in solid tumors: a systematic review and meta-analysis". J. Natl. Cancer Inst. 106 (6): dju124. doi:10.1093/jnci/dju124. PMID 24875653. 
  4. ^ Xue P (Apr 2014). "Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio for predicting palliative chemotherapy outcomes in advanced pancreatic cancer patients". Cancer Med. 3 (2): 406–15. doi:10.1002/cam4.204. PMC 3987090Freely accessible. PMID 24519894. 

Further reading[edit]