Neutrophil-to-Lymphocyte Ratio Predicts Survival After Whole-brain Radiotherapy in Non-small Cell Lung Cancer

• Published in: In vivo (Athens) Vol. 33; no. 1; pp. 195 - 201
• Main Authors: Doi, Hiroshi, Nakamatsu, Kiyoshi, Anami, Shimpei, Fukuda, Kohei, Inada, Masahiro, Tatebe, Hitoshi, Ishikawa, Kazuki, Kanamori, Shuichi, Monzen, Hajime, Nishimura, Yasumasa
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Greece International Institute of Anticancer Research 01.01.2019
• Subjects: lung cancer; Neutrophil–to–lymphocyte ratio; brain metastasis; whole-brain radiotherapy; immunotherapy
• ISSN: 0258-851X; 1791-7549
• DOI: 10.21873/invivo.11459

This study aimed to identify prognostic factors for response to whole-brain radiotherapy (WBRT) in patients with brain metastases (BMs) from non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). This study retrospectively evaluated 100 patients who underwent WBRT for BMs from NSCLC between December 2012 and October 2017. Clinical factors were tested for associations with overall survival after WBRT. The median follow-up time was 134 days (range=14-1,395 days), the median survival time was 143 days, and the 1-year survival rate was 30.4%. Univariate and multivariate analyses revealed that better survival was independently associated with expression of programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1), no previous treatment for BMs, no extracranial disease, and a neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) of <5.0. A low NLR and positive PD-L1 expression independently predict better prognosis in patients with BMs from NSCLC after WBRT. These findings suggest that the potential immune response may influence survival among patients with BMs.