AUTHOR=Zhang Feng , Gong Weihong 

TITLE=Prognostic Value of the Platelet-to-Lymphocyte Ratio in Patients With Melanoma: A Meta-Analysis

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Oncology

VOLUME=10

YEAR=2020

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/oncology/articles/10.3389/fonc.2020.01116

DOI=10.3389/fonc.2020.01116

ISSN=2234-943X

ABSTRACT=<p><bold>Background:</bold> The prognostic role of the platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) is controversial in patients with melanoma. Therefore, we performed a meta-analysis to assess the prognostic value of the PLR in patients with melanoma.</p><p><bold>Methods:</bold> PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, Cochrane library, WanFang, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure were searched for eligible studies. Pooled hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated to evaluate the association between the PLR and overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS).</p><p><bold>Results:</bold> Nine studies with 2,396 patients were included in this meta-analysis. A high PLR was a predictor of shorter OS (HR = 1.67, 95% CI = 1.18–2.38, <italic>p</italic> = 0.004), but not PFS (HR = 1.53, 95% CI = 0.96–2.44, <italic>p</italic> = 0.075) in patients with melanoma. Subgroup analysis revealed that the PLR remained a significant prognostic indicator of both OS and PFS in patients with non-metastatic disease; the PLR cutoff value of &lt;120 had a consistent prognostic value.</p><p><bold>Conclusions:</bold> An increased PLR was associated with poor OS of patients with melanoma. Hence, we suggest that the preoperative PLR could be used to identify high-risk patients and provide information regarding the prognosis of patients with melanoma.</p>