Int J Thyroidol.  2018 May;11(1):41-48. 10.11106/ijt.2018.11.1.41.

Preoperative High Neutrophil-Lymphocyte Ratio May Be Associated with Lateral Lymph Node Metastasis in Patients with Papillary Thyroid Cancers

• Chae IH
• Kim EK
• Moon HJ
• Yoon JH
• Park VY
• Lee HS
• Moon J
• Kwak JY

• KMID: 2428070
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.11106/ijt.2018.11.1.41

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES
The present study investigated the association between preoperative neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and poor prognostic outcomes in conventional papillary thyroid carcinomas (cPTCs).
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Two hundred and five patients who underwent total thyroidectomy for cPTCs larger than 10 mm were evaluated retrospectively. Patients were classified into the low NLR (n=103) and high NLR (n=102) groups by the median NLR value (1.78) and logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate whether the NLR predicted aggressive PTC features. Patients were also classified into the disease-free (n=183) and persistence/recurrence (n=22) groups and Cox regression analysis was used to investigate factors affecting persistence/recurrence by Cox regression analysis.
RESULTS
The high NLR group had a higher presence of lateral lymph node metastasis (p=0.004) and higher radioactive iodine doses (p=0.006) than the low NLR group. High NLR was an independent predictor of lateral lymph node metastasis (LNM) (OR, 2.786; p=0.005) but was not significantly associated with persistence/recurrence.
CONCLUSION
Preoperative high NLR was an independent predictor of lateral LNM in cPTCs.

Keyword

Lymphocyte; Lymph node metastasis; Neutrophil; Recurrence; Papillary thyroid carcinoma

MeSH Terms

Humans
Iodine
Logistic Models
Lymph Nodes*
Lymphocytes
Neoplasm Metastasis*
Neutrophils
Recurrence
Retrospective Studies
Thyroid Gland*
Thyroid Neoplasms*
Thyroidectomy
Iodine

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