Clinicopathological and prognostic significance of platelet-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) in gastric cancer: an updated meta-analysis

• Published in: World journal of surgical oncology Vol. 18; no. 1; p. 191
• Main Authors: Zhang, Xunlei, Zhao, Wenjing, Yu, Yang, Qi, Xue, Song, Li, Zhang, Chenfei, Li, Guoxing, Yang, Lei
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central Ltd 30.07.2020; BioMed Central; BMC
• Subjects: Biological markers; Biomarkers; Blood Platelets; Cancer; Cancer therapies; Care and treatment; Chemotherapy; Development and progression; Gastric cancer; Health aspects; Humans; Lymph nodes; Lymphatic system; Lymphocyte; Lymphocyte Count; Lymphocytes; Management; Medical prognosis; Meta-analysis; Metastases; Metastasis; Parameters; Patients; Platelet; Platelet Count; Platelets; PLR; Prognosis; Secondary data analysis; Stomach cancer; Stomach Neoplasms; Studies; Surgery; Survival; Tumors; China; United States > US; Platelet; Gastric cancer; Lymphocyte; PLR; Meta-analysis
• ISSN: 1477-7819; 1477-7819
• DOI: 10.1186/s12957-020-01952-2

Pre-treatment PLR (platelet-lymphocyte ratio) was reported to be associated with the prognosis in gastric cancer (GC), but the results remain inconclusive. This meta-analysis aimed to investigate the prognostic potential of the pre-treatment PLR in gastric cancer. We performed a systematic literature search in PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library to identify eligible publications. The hazard ratio (HR)/odds ratio (OR) and its 95% confidence (CI) of survival outcomes and clinicopathological parameters were calculated. A total of 49 studies (51 cohorts), collecting data from 28,929 GC patients, were included in the final analysis. The pooled results demonstrated that the elevated pre-treatment PLR was significantly associated with poor overall survival (OS) (HR 1.37, 95% CI 1.26-1.49, p < 0.001; I = 79.90%, P < 0.001) and disease-free survival (DFS) (HR 1.52, 95% CI 1.22-1.90, p < 0.001, I = 88.6%, P < 0.001). Furthermore, the patients with the elevated PLR had a higher risk of lymph node metastasis (OR = 1.17, 95% CI 1.02-1.33, p = 0.023), serosal invasion (T3+T4) (OR = 1.34, 95% CI 1.10-1.64, p = 0.003), and increased advanced stage (III+IV) (OR = 1.20, 95% CI 1.06-1.37, p = 0.004). An elevated pre-treatment PLR was a prognostic factor for poor OS and DFS and associated with poor clinicopathological parameters in GC patients.