Prognostic value of preoperative inflammatory response biomarkers in patients with sarcomatoid renal cell carcinoma and the establishment of a nomogram

To examine the prognostic role of inflammatory response biomarkers in sarcomatoid renal cell carcinoma (sRCC). From January 2004 to May 2015, 103 patients with sRCC were enrolled in this study. Preoperative neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR), derived neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (dNLR), platelet to lymphocyte ratio (PLR) and lymphocyte to monocyte ratio (LMR) were analyzed. Besides well-established clinicopathological prognostic factors, we evaluated the prognostic value of this four markers using Kaplan-Meier method and Cox regression models. Additionally, a nomogram was established to predict the prognosis of sRCC patients. Elevated NLR, dNLR and PLR were significantly associated with worse overall survival (OS), nevertheless, elevated LMR showed an adverse effect on reduced OS. Multivariate analysis revealed that NLR (HR = 4.07, 95% CI = 1.50–11.00, P = 0.006) retained as independent factor. Incorporation of the NLR into a prognostic model including T stage, M stage, tumor necrosis and percentage of sarcomatoid generated a nomogram, which accurately predicted OS for sRCC patients. Preoperative NLR may serve as a potential prognostic biomarker in patients with sRCC and may help with clinical decisions about treatment intervention in clinical practice. The proposed nomogram can be used for the prediction of OS in patients with sRCC.