Pretreatment lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio as an independent prognostic factor for hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this work was to analyze the clinical characteristics and pretreatment peripheral blood cell counts of patients with hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (HPSCC) and determine their relationship with clinical outcomes.

METHODS: One hundred ninety-seven patients were eligible for the study. The relationship between survival and pretreatment peripheral absolute neutrophil count (ANC), absolute lymphocyte count (ALC), absolute monocyte count (AMC), neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), and lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio (LMR) were analyzed by one-way analysis of variance, t-test, and univariate and multivariate analysis.

RESULTS: The median follow-up time was 30.95 months (range 1-82 months). The 3-year disease-free survival (DFS), cancer-specific survival (CSS), and overall survival (OS) rates for all patients were 40.8, 51.0, and 48.1%, respectively. The ANC, AMC, NLR, and LMR were significantly associated with tumor stage and clinical stage (p < .05). A high NLR (≥2.69) and low LMR (<2.98) were significantly associated with poor DFS, CSS, and OS. The LMR was a significant independent prognostic factor for DFS, CSS, and OS (p = .035, .047, and .045, respectively).

CONCLUSION: The pretreatment LMR should be considered as an independent prognostic factor for patients with HPSCC.