Author(s)

Hideya Takeuchi^1*, Seiichi Fukuyama¹, Nobuhide Kubo¹, Shoji Hiroshige¹, Hirofumi Kawanaka^1,2, Yasuji Yoshikawa³, Tokujiro Yano¹

¹Department of Surgery, National Hospital Organization Beppu Medical Center, Beppu, Japan.
²Clinical Research Institute, National Hospital Organization Beppu Medical Center, Beppu, Japan.
³Department of Pathology, National Hospital Organization Beppu Medical Center, Beppu, Japan.

Inflammation has been shown to be a factor in tumorigenesis. The circulating platelet to lymphocyte ratio (PLR) is a representative index of systemic inflammation. In this study, we analyzed the association between preoperative PLR levels and clinicopathological variables in two hundred sixty-four Japanese patients with localized breast carcinoma. We also evaluated the prognostic significance of preoperative PLR levels using the Cox proportional hazard model. Seventy-five patients (28.4%) had elevated PLR values, whereas 189 (71.6%) had depressed PLR values. The PLR correlated significantly with venous invasion (P < 0.05). Disease-free survival rates were significantly worse among patients with elevated PLR values than among those with lower PLR value (5-year survival, 81.6% vs. 90.7%, respectively; P < 0.05). In multivariate analysis, elevated PLR, nuclear grade, and lymph node involvement were significant prognostic factors for disease-free survival in patients with breast carcinoma (P < 0.05). Preoperative PLR levels may be an independent prognostic factor in patients with breast carcinoma.

Platelet-Lymphocyte Ratio, Breast Cancer, Inflammation

Takeuchi, H. , Fukuyama, S. , Kubo, N. , Hiroshige, S. , Kawanaka, H. , Yoshikawa, Y. and Yano, T. (2016) The Prognostic Significance of the Preoperative Platelet-Lymphocyte Ratio in Japanese Patients with Localized Breast Cancer. Advances in Breast Cancer Research, 5, 49-57. doi: 10.4236/abcr.2016.52005.