Platelet-lymphocyte and neutrophil-lymphocyte ratios are prognostic but not predictive of response to abiraterone acetate in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer.

PURPOSE: Recently neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelet-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) have been reported to be inflammatory parameters that confer poorer outcome in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCPRPC). However, these ratios have not been analyzed in patients treated with abiraterone acetate. We explored the relationship between different values of PLR and NLR and survival in mCPRCP treated with abiraterone and their possible relation with a prostate specific antigen (PSA) response.

METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed 101 patients with mCRPC treated with abiraterone from January of 2012 to November of 2015 in two different hospitals. A cut-off value of 5 for NLR and 150 for PLR were used to compare survival by Kaplan-Meier method. Moreover, an association between these cut-off values and the PSA response was analyzed by a χ 2 test.

RESULTS: In the case of NLR, the median DFS were 12, 1 months for NLR <5 and 7 months for NLR ≥5, p = 0.061. The median OS were 23.9 months for NLR <5 and 16.3 months for NLR ≥5, p = 0.046. In the case of PLR, the median DFS were 11.8 months for PLR <150 and 10.6 months for PLR ≥150, p = 0.549. The median OS were 27.4 months for PLR <150 and 15.9 months for PLR ≥150, p = 0.005. It was not observed a correlation between the different cut-off values of PLR or NLR and a PSA response ≥25% (p = 0.31).

CONCLUSIONS: It is shown a better prognostic relationship between PLR and NLR low values and OS that is statistically significant in mCPRC patients treated with abiraterone. Furthermore, it was not shown a relation between PLR and NLR values and PSA response.