Prognostic role of neutrophil lymphocyte ratio in patients with glioma

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prognostic role of neutrophil lymphocyte ratio (NLR) in patients with glioma. PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library and China National Knowledge Infrastructure were searched for relevant literature. The study and patient characteristics were extracted. Hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were pooled to estimate the prognostic role of NLR in patients with glioma. Subgroup analysis and sensitivity analysis were also performed. Six studies with 1,021 patients were included. The pooled HR of elevated NLR for OS in patients with glioma was 1.48 (95% CI, 1.25-1.76). Among the included studies, five studies used 4 as the cut-off value of NLR. The pooled HR for OS of the five studies was 1.67 (95% CI, 1.37-2.03). No significant heterogeneity was observed (I(2) = 42.4%, P=0. 122). Publication bias was not present. Elevated NLR was associated with poorer overall survival in patients with glioma.