Association of markers of systemic and local inflammation with prognosis of patients with rectal cancer who received neoadjuvant radiotherapy

Xueqing Zhang,1,* Jinluan Li,1,* Qingqin Peng,2 Yunxia Huang,1 Lirui Tang,1 Qingyang Zhuang,1 Feifei Lin,1 Xijin Lin,1 Kaixin Du,3 Junxin Wu1 1Department of Radiation Oncology, Fujian Medical University Cancer Hospital, Fujian Cancer Hospital, Fuzhou 350014, China; 2Department of Radiation Oncology, First Hospital of Quanzhou Affiliated to Fujian Medical University, Quanzhou 362000, China; 3Department of Radiation Oncology, Xiamen Humanity Hospital, Xiamen 361000, China *These authors contributed equally to this work Purpose: The inflammatory status of patients with cancer appears to affect cancer progression and patient prognosis. We examined the characteristics of cancer-associated systemic and local inflammation and its impact on the overall survival (OS) of patients with locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC) who received neoadjuvant radiotherapy (nRT). Patients and methods: Seventy-six consecutive LARC patients who received nRT from February 2012 to September 2015 were retrospectively analyzed. The peripheral neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) was determined at diagnosis, and the CD8+ T-cell count was determined from surgical specimens. Factors associated with OS were identified by univariate and multivariate Cox regression. Results: The median follow-up time was 23.0 months (range: 2–59), and the overall 5-year OS rate was 68.6% (95% CI =46.06–91.14). Patients with a high NLR (≥2.0) and a low CD8+ T-cell count (