Effect of neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio at the initial visit on the survival of children with newly diagnosed medulloblastoma / 中华实用儿科临床杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To explore the effect of neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) at the initial visit on the survival of children with newly diagnosed medulloblastoma (MB).Methods:This was a case-control study involving 61 children with newly diagnosed MB at the Department of Pediatrics, Beijing Shijitan Hospital, Capital Medical University from August 2018 to January 2020 .The blood cell counts, lymphocyte subsets and immunoglobulin in the periphe-ral blood were measured to calculate NLR at the initial visit.Based on the cut-off value determined by receiver opera-ting characteristic (ROC) curve, patients were divided into high NLR group (≥ 2.07, n=21) and low NLR group (<2.07, n=40). The progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) between 2 groups were analyzed by the Kaplan-Meier method, followed by Log- rank test.The correlation between NLR at the initial visit with clinical characteristics, lymphocyte subsets and immunoglobulin of children with newly diagnosed MB was analyzed.Differences between groups were compared by the Chi- square test, Mann- Whitney U test and independent sample t test. Results:The survival analysis showed that the relapse rate (38.1% vs.10.0%, χ2=6.879, P=0.016) and mortality rate (19.0% vs.0, χ2=8.154, P=0.011) were significantly higher in high NLR group than those of low NLR group.PFS (12 months vs.19 months, χ2=9.775, P=0.002) and OS (19 months vs.20 months, χ2=8.432, P=0.004) were significantly shorter in high NLR group than those of low NLR group.No significant differences in clinical characteristics were detected between groups (all P>0.05). Compared with low NLR group, the percentage of T lymphocyte[(67.93±6.37)% vs.(73.38±8.08)%, t=2.886, df=48.865, P=0.006], T helper cells (Th)[(30.86±5.53)% vs.(34.29±7.44)%, t=2.037, df=51.981, P=0.047], and T suppressor cells (Ts)[(27.39±5.50)% vs.(30.84±6.58)%, t=2.164, df=47.581, P=0.035] were significantly lower in high NLR group.Spearman correlation analysis showed a negative correlation between NLR and T lymphocyte count ( r=-0.303, P=0.018), and Ts lymphocyte count ( r=-0.260, P=0.043). Conclusions:Children with newly diagnosed MB expressing a high level of NLR had a poor prognosis, which may be associated with T lymphocyte and Ts lymphocyte.