Open AccessPrognostic value of platelet to lymphocyte ratio in hepatocellular carcinoma: a meta-analysis
Author(s) -
Wenxue Ma,
Ping Zhang,
Jun Quan,
Litong Gu,
Mingcui Zang,
Haochen Yao,
Xiaorui Shi,
Chunli Wang,
Ying Jiang
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
scientific reports
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.24
H-Index - 213
ISSN - 2045-2322
DOI - 10.1038/srep35378
Subject(s) - hepatocellular carcinoma , meta analysis , value (mathematics) , platelet , medicine , lymphocyte , carcinoma , gastroenterology , oncology , immunology , statistics , mathematics
This study was designed to evaluate the prognostic value of platelet to lymphocyte ratio (PLR) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). A comprehensive literature search for relevant studies was performed in Web of science, Embase and Pubmed. A total of nine studies with 2017 patients were included in this meta-analysis, and combined hazard ratio (HR) or odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95%CIs) were served as effect measures. Pooled results showed that elevated PLR was associated with poor overall survival (OS) (HR = 1.63, 95%CI: 1.42–1.88, p = 0.000; I 2 = 0.0%, P h = 0.637) and poor disease-free survival (DFS)/recurrence-free survival (RFS) (HR=1.32, 95%CI: 1.15–1.52, p = 0.000; I 2 = 19.3%, P h = 0.287) in HCC patients. In addition, high PLR was not significantly correlated with the presence of vascular invasion, tumor multifocality, poor tumor grade or high level of serum AFP (>400 ng/ml). In conclusion, elevated PLR indicated a poor prognosis for patients with HCC. PLR may be a reliable, easily-obtained, and low cost biomarker with prognostic potential for HCC.