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SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article

Front. Oncol.
Sec. Gastrointestinal Cancers: Colorectal Cancer
Volume 14 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fonc.2024.1415443

Prognostic role of platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio in patients with rectal cancer undergoing resection: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Provisionally accepted
Lijuan Ma Lijuan Ma 1,2Fei Yang Fei Yang 2*Wentao Guo Wentao Guo 2*Shufang Tang Shufang Tang 2*Yarui Ling Yarui Ling 2*
  • 1 Shenzhen Traditional Chinese Medicine Anorectal Hospital＜Futian＞, Shenzhen, China
  • 2 Shenzhen Anorectal Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shenzhen, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: Inflammation plays a pivotal role in tumor growth, with the platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) emerging as a promising serum biomarker for prognostic assessment in patients with cancer.However, its specific role in rectal cancer remains controversial.Methods: A comprehensive literature review encompassing PubMed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library, spanning from their inception to March 2024, was conducted. The systematic review and meta-analysis strictly adhered to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis guidelines (PRISMA). Quality assessment was conducted using the Newcastle-Ottawa scale (NOS). This study aimed to assess the available literature on the association of PLR with both overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) in patients with rectal cancer undergoing resection.Results: Twenty-three observational studies, encompassing 7577 patients, were included in the analysis. These comprised 20 retrospective and 3 prospective cohort studies, with NOS scores ranging from 5 to 8. A significant association was found between high PLR and worse OS (hazard ratio [HR] 1.00; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.00-1.01; P = 0.01). Conversely, no significant association was observed between PLR and DFS (HR 1.14; 95% CI 0.98-1.32; P = 0.09).Conclusions: PLR serves as an independent clinical predictor of OS in patients with rectal cancer treated with curative surgery, but not of DFS. This easily accessible biomarker appears to be an optimal prognostic index and may aid clinicians in predicting the prognosis of rectal cancer, facilitating the development of individualized treatment strategies.

    Keywords: rectal cancer, resection, platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio, Survival, Meta-analysis

    Received: 10 Apr 2024; Accepted: 03 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Ma, Yang, Guo, Tang and Ling. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Fei Yang, Shenzhen Anorectal Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shenzhen, China
    Wentao Guo, Shenzhen Anorectal Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shenzhen, China
    Shufang Tang, Shenzhen Anorectal Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shenzhen, China
    Yarui Ling, Shenzhen Anorectal Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shenzhen, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.