Prognostic value of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio in melanoma: Evidence from a PRISMA-compliant meta-analysis.

Abstract

Background A number of studies have investigated the prognostic impact of the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) in patients with melanoma but the results were controversial. Therefore, we conducted a meta-analysis to explore the prognostic value of NLR in melanoma.

Methods The databases of PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science were thoroughly searched. Associations between NLR and overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) were investigated by pooling hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval (CI).

Results A total of 12 studies comprising 3207 patients were finally included in the meta-analysis. The results showed that a high NLR was associated with poor OS (HR = 2.23, 95% CI = 1.64-3.04, P

Conclusion This meta-analysis demonstrated that a high NLR was predictive of poor OS and PFS in patients with melanoma.