A retrospective study on the prognostic value of preoperative neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio in patients with primary small-cell carcinoma of the esophagus

Figures & data

Figure 1 SCCE study flow diagram.

Abbreviation: SCCE, small-cell carcinoma of the esophagus.

Table 1 General characteristics of patients according to NLR groups

Variables	Low-NLR group (n=56)	High-NLR group (n=73)	χ^2 value	P-value
	Case, n (%)	Case, n (%)
Sex			1.350	0.245
Male	40 (71.4)	45 (61.6)
Female	16 (28.6)	28 (38.4)
Age* (years)			0.034	0.853
<60	27 (48.2)	34 (46.6)
≥60	29 (51.8)	39 (53.4)
Histology			0.252	0.615
SCCE	36 (64.3)	50 (68.5)
With squamous cell carcinoma	20 (35.7)	23 (31.5)
Tumor stage			0.046	0.977
T1	13 (23.2)	18 (24.7)
T2	16 (28.6)	21 (28.8)
T3	27 (48.2)	34 (46.5)
Tumor location			0.120	0.942
Upper	3 (5.4)	3 (4.1)
Middle	45 (80.4)	59 (80.8)
Lower	8 (14.2)	11 (15.1)
Nodal metastasis			3.900	0.272
N0	37 (66.1)	47 (64.4)
N1	13 (23.2)	21 (28.8)
N2	6 (10.7)	3 (4.1)
N3	0 (0)	2 (2.7)
TNM stage			1.687	0.430
I	19 (33.9)	29 (39.7)
II	27 (48.2)	27 (37.0)
III	10 (17.9)	17 (23.3)
Perineural invasion			1.385	0.239
Negative	52 (92.9)	71 (97.3)
Positive	4 (7.1)	2 (2.7)
Vessel involvement			1.558	0.212
Negative	56 (100)	71 (97.3)
Positive	0 (0)	2 (2.7)

Note:

* Mean age.

Abbreviations: NLR, neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio; SCCE, small-cell carcinoma of the esophagus.

Figure 2 Kaplan–Meier analysis of NLR for OS in patents with SCCE.

Abbreviations: NLR, neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio; OS, overall survival; SCCE, small-cell carcinoma of the esophagus.

Figure 3 Kaplan–Meier analysis of NLR for OS in patents with pN0 SCCE.

Abbreviations: NLR, neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio; OS, overall survival; SCCE, small-cell carcinoma of the esophagus.

Table 2 Univariate analysis of prognostic factors of overall survival

Variables	Case (n)	Survival rate (%)			P-value
		1 year	3 years	5 years
Sex					0.606
Male	73	52.9	34.1	14.1
Female	40	47.7	34.1	11.4
Age*					0.384
<60	61	54.1	39.3	14.8
≥60	68	48.5	29.4	11.8
Histology					0.039
SCCE	86	44.2	29.1	9.3
With squamous cell carcinoma	43	65.1	44.2	20.9
Tumor stage					<0.001
T1	31	83.9	54.8	32.3
T2	37	51.4	35.1	10.8
T3	61	34.4	23.0	4.9
Tumor location					0.026
Upper	6	16.7	16.7	0
Middle	104	56.7	38.5	15.4
Lower	19	31.6	15.8	5.3
Nodal metastasis					<0.001
N0	84	65.5	45.2	17.9
N1	34	29.4	14.7	5.9
N2	9	11.1	11.1	0
N3	2	0	0	0
TNM stage					<0.001
I	48	81.2	54.2	25.0
II	54	42.6	29.6	9.3
III	27	14.8	7.4	0
Perineural invasion					0.687
Negative	123	51.2	34.1	13.0
Positive	6	50.0	33.3	16.7
Vessel involvement					0.572
Negative	127	50.4	34.6	13.4
Positive	2	100	0	0
Adjuvant therapy					<0.001
Chemotherapy	80	67.5	46.3	18.7
Radiochemotherapy	49	24.5	14.3	4.1
NLR					0.002
Low	56	57.1	50.0	23.2
High	73	46.6	21.9	5.5

Note:

* Mean age.

Abbreviations: NLR, neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio; SCCE, small-cell carcinoma of the esophagus.

Table 3 Multivariate survival analysis for various potential prognostic factors of overall survival

Variables	HR	95% CI	P-value
Histology	0.660	0.441–0.989	0.044
Tumor stage	1.729	1.365–2.189	<0.001
Tumor location	1.347	0.846–2.142	0.209
Nodal metastasis	1.619	0.926–2.832	0.091
TNM stage	1.642	1.071–2.518	0.023
Adjuvant therapy	0.611	0.405–0.920	0.018
NLR	1.803	1.203–2.702	0.004

Abbreviations: CI, confidence interval; HR, hazard ratio; NLR, neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio.

Table 4 Univariate analysis of NLR stratified by nodal metastasis

Nodal metastasis	Case (n)	Median survival time (months)	95% CI	P-value
pN0	84	18.0	0.853–35.147	<0.001
Low NLR	37	46.0	32.929–59.071	–
High NLR	47	15.0	12.765–17.235	–
pN1	34	11.0	10.566–11.434	0.633
Low NLR	13	11.0	10.348–11.652	–
High NLR	21	11.0	10.420–11.580	–
pN2	9	10.0	9.511–10.489	0.739
Low NLR	6	10.0	9.404–10.596	–
High NLR	3	10.0	–	–
pN3	2	8.0	–	–
Low NLR	0	–	–	–
High NLR	2	8.0	–	–

Abbreviations: CI, confidence interval; NLR, neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio.

Table 5 AIC results of the two multivariate models

Model	Overall survival
1 (histology, tumor stage, TNM stage, and adjuvant therapy)	928.295
2 (histology, tumor stage, TNM stage, adjuvant therapy, and NLR)	923.222

Abbreviations: AIC, Akaike information criterion; NLR, neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio.