Prognostic significance of the neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio in patients undergoing treatment with nivolumab for recurrent non-small-cell lung cancer

AIM: We investigated the prognostic potential of pretherapy measurement of the neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR) in patients (n = 56) with non-small-cell lung cancer deemed suitable for treatment with nivolumab. MATERIALS & METHODS: This was a multicenter, noninterventional, retrospective data analysis, involving five oncology centers. RESULTS: Patients with prenivolumab NLR values of <5 and ≥5 had respective median overall survival (OS) values of 14.5 and 7.02 months (p = 0.0026). Patients with ≤2 and >2 metastatic sites had median OS values of 11.4 and 6.1 months, respectively (p = 0.0174). A Cox multiple regression model revealed baseline NLR ≥5 as the only variable significantly associated with decreased OS (p < 0.0447). CONCLUSION: Pretreatment elevated NLR values are associated with poor outcomes in patients with recurrent metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer treated with nivolumab.