Predictive value of preoperative monocyte–lymphocyte ratio among patients with localized clear renal cell carcinoma of ≤7 cm on preoperative imaging

We investigated the prognostic ability of preoperative monocyte–lymphocyte ratio for oncologic outcomes in non-metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma of ≤7 cm on preoperative computed tomography (CT). We retrospectively reviewed 1637 patients who underwent radical or partial nephrectomy for solid renal masses ≤7 cm (2005–2014). We included 1137 patients after exclusion of benign pathology, non-clear cell, morbidity affecting inflammatory markers, metastasis, regional lymphadenopathy, positive margin, and follow up <12 months. According to cutoff values of 0.21, we had high ≥0.21 and low <0.21 preoperative monocyte–lymphocyte ratio groups. Mann–Whitney U and chi-squared tests were used for continuous and Dichotomous variables. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analysis were used to predict factors affecting recurrence and survival. Kaplan–Meier curve was used for survival analysis. At a median age of 56 years with a median follow up of 65 months, 51 patients had a recurrence (4.5%). There were no statistical differences between the high and low monocyte–lymphocyte ratio groups as regard the pathological characters (P > .005). Monocyte–lymphocyte ratio was a predictor for recurrence-free and cancer-specific survivals (hazard risk [HR] 2.17, P = .012 and HR 4.06, P = .004, respectively). A higher monocyte–lymphocyte ratio was significantly associated with worse, both 10-year recurrence-free (90.2% vs 94.9%) and cancer-specific survival (89.5% vs 98.8%) (Log-rank, P = .002 and P < .001, respectively). The preoperative monocyte–lymphocyte ratio is an independent prognostic marker for recurrence-free and cancer-specific survivals after curative surgery for non-metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma of ≤7 cm on preoperative CT.