The Postoperative Lymphocyte to Monocyte Ratio Change Predicts Poor Clinical Outcome in Patients with Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma Undergoing Curative Resection

BACKGROUND: Postoperative lymphocyte to monocyte ratio (post-LMR) change (LMRc) reflects the dynamic change of balance between inflammatory reaction and immune reaction after curative operation. An elevated preoperative LMR (pre-LMR) has been shown to be a prognostic factor in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC), but the clinical value of the LMRc remains unknown. METHODS: 674 patients in ESCC undergoing curative operation were enrolled in this study. LMRc (LMRc = pre‐LMR–post‐LMR) was counted on the basis of data within one week before and after operation. The median of LMRc was chosen to be the optimal cut-off value to evaluate the prognostic value of LMRc. RESULTS: Kaplan-Meier curves revealed that LMRc ≤ 1.59 was significantly associated with worse overall survival (OS) (P = 0.003) and disease-free survival (DFS) (P = 0.008). Multivariate analysis suggested that LMRc could serve as an independent prognostic predictor for both OS (P = 0.006, HR = 0.687, 95% CI 0.526-0.898) and DFS (P = 0.003, HR = 0.640, 95% CI 0.476-0.859). CONCLUSIONS: LMRc is a promising prognostic predictor for predicting the worse clinical outcome in patients with ESCC undergoing curative operation.