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Table 2 Differences in clinical characteristics for high and low NLR groups

From: Systemic inflammation is an independent predictive marker of clinical outcomes in mucosal squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck in oropharyngeal and non-oropharyngeal patients

Characteristic

All patients (N = 145)a

Oropharyngeal (n = 76)a

Non-oropharyngeal (n = 69)a

NLR ≤ 5 (n = 116)

NLR > 5 (n = 29)

p value*

NLR ≤ 5 (n = 60)

NLR > 5 (n =16)

p value*

NLR ≤ 5 (n = 56)

NLR > 5 (n = 13)

p value*

Age, median years (range)

61 (32–86)

67 (28–86)

0.2

57.5 (32–83)

64 (47–81)

0.07

65 (38–86)

70 (28–86)

0.8

Sex, n (%)

  

1

  

1

  

1

Male

92 (79)

23 (79)

 

49 (82)

13 (81)

 

43 (77)

10 (77)

 

Female

24 (21)

6 (21)

 

11 (18)

3 (19)

 

13 (23)

3 (23)

 

ECOG PS, n (%)

  

0.5

  

0.5

  

0.3

0

84 (73)

18 (62)

 

51 (85)

13 (81)

 

33 (60)

5 (38)

 

1

24 (21)

8 (28)

 

8 (13)

2 (13)

 

16 (29)

6 (46)

 

2

7 (6)

3 (10)

 

1 (2)

1 (6)

 

6 (11)

2 (15)

 

Smoking status, n (%)

  

0.8

  

0.9

  

0.4

Non-smoker

35 (31)

9 (32)

 

19 (32)

5 (31)

 

16 (29)

4 (33)

 

Ex-smoker

48 (42)

13 (46)

 

29 (49)

7 (44)

 

19 (35)

6 (50)

 

Current smoker

31 (27)

6 (21)

 

11 (19)

4 (25)

 

20 (36)

2 (17)

 

Tumour site, n (%)

  

0.7

  

-

  

0.6

Lip and oral cavity

20 (17)

5 (17)

 

0 (0)

0 (0)

 

20 (36)

5 (38)

 

Nasopharynx

8 (7)

0 (0)

 

0 (0)

0 (0)

 

8 (14)

0 (0)

 

Oropharynx

60 (52)

16 (55)

 

60 (100)

16 (100)

 

0 (0)

0 (0)

 

Hypopharynx

9 (8)

3 (10)

 

0 (0)

0 (0)

 

9 (16)

3 (23)

 

Larynx

19 (16)

5 (17)

 

0 (0)

0 (0)

 

19 (34)

5 (38)

 

Tumour stage, n (%)

  

0.7

  

0.3

  

0.8

T1

31 (27)

4 (14)

 

22 (37)

2 (13)

 

9 (16)

2 (15)

 

T2

38 (33)

14 (48)

 

21 (35)

8 (50)

 

17 (30)

6 (46)

 

T3

29 (25)

7 (24)

 

11 (18)

4 (25)

 

18 (32)

3 (23)

 

T4

18 (16)

4 (14)

 

6 (10)

2 (13)

 

12 (21)

2 (15)

 

Nodal stage, n (%)

  

0.5

  

0.8

  

0.3

N0

37 (32)

7 (24)

 

10 (17)

1 (6)

 

27 (48)

6 (46)

 

N1

26 (22)

10 (35)

 

17 (28)

5 (31)

 

9 (16)

5 (38)

 

N2

48 (41)

12 (41)

 

31 (52)

10 (63)

 

17 (30)

2 (15)

 

N3

5 (4)

0 (0)

 

2 (3)

0 (0)

 

3 (5)

0 (0)

 

AJCC stage, n (%)

  

0.9

  

0.9

  

0.5

I

7 (6)

2 (7)

 

4 (7)

0 (0)

 

3 (5)

2 (15)

 

II

27 (23)

8 (28)

 

14 (23)

4 (25)

 

13 (23)

4 (31)

 

III

59 (51)

15 (52)

 

34 (57)

10 (63)

 

25 (45)

5 (38)

 

IV

23 (20)

4 (14)

 

8 (13)

2 (13)

 

15 (27)

2 (15)

 

p16 tumour status, n (%)

  

0.8

  

0.6

  

0.2

Negative

39 (51)

9 (47)

 

5 (14)

2 (25)

 

34 (85)

7 (64)

 

Positive

37 (49)

10 (53)

 

31 (86)

6 (75)

 

6 (15)

4 (36)

 

Treatment, n (%)

  

0.8

  

0.8

  

0.8

Radiotherapy

14 (12)

3 (10)

 

9 (15)

1 (6)

 

5 (9)

2 (15)

 

Postoperative radiotherapy

24 (21)

5 (17)

 

3 (5)

0 (0)

 

21 (38)

5 (38)

 

Chemoradiotherapy

68 (59)

20 (69)

 

46 (77)

15 (94)

 

22 (39)

5 (38)

 

Postoperative chemoradiotherapy

10 (9)

1 (3)

 

2 (3)

0 (0)

 

8 (14)

1 (8)

 

Neutrophils, median counts (range)

4.55 (1.10-11.80)

6.80 (3.2-11.90)

<0.001

4.40 (1.10-9.30)

7.85 (3.90-11.90)

<0.001

5.15 (2.10-2.80)

6.50 (3.20-11.80)

<0.01

Lymphocytes, median counts (range)

1.75 (0.50-10.70)

1.10 (0.20-1.70)

<0.001

1.65 (0.50-3.40)

1.10 (0.40-1.70)

<0.001

1.90 (0.60-10.70)

1.00 (0.20-1.50)

<0.001

NLR, median counts (range)

2.69 (0.41-5.00)

6.71 (5.09-29.75)

<0.001

2.71 (1.30-4.78)

6.41 (5.09-29.75)

<0.001

2.64 (0.41-5.00)

7.00 (5.55-16.00)

<0.001

  1. Abbreviations: NLR neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, ECOG PS Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status and AJCC American Joint Committee on Cancer
  2. *, appropriate statistical test (Students t-test, Mann Whitney-U, χ2 test or Fishers exact test) conducted between high and low NLR patients and a, missing values excluded from table and statistical analysis
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BMC Cancer

ISSN: 1471-2407

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