Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio predicts PSA response, but not outcomes in patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer treated with docetaxel

Purpose The neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is a marker of systemic inflammatory response and evidences for the relationship between NLR and the response to treatment gradually increases in cancer patients. In this study, we aimed to investigate the effect of the pretreatment NLR and other factors related to the patient on predicting the outcome of docetaxel + prednisone chemotherapy in prostate cancer patients who become castration resistant. Materials and methods Thirty-three metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer patients those who were treated between 2009 and 2013 were included in our study. All data of the patients, including pathological, clinical, radiological, biochemical and hematological data, were assessed retrospectively using our database system. Results The median progression-free survival (PFS) was determined as 23.9 months (range 0.36–118.7) with androgen suppression therapy and 9.5 months (range 1.7–39.4) with docetaxel + prednisone therapy. NLR was found to be correlated with only posttreatment psa levels. In the NLR ≤3 group, the PSA levels were statistically significantly lower than the other group ( r = 0.002). Furthermore, the relationships between the clinical response and PFS and the other pretreatment parameters of the patients were evaluated in order to predict which group would respond better to docetaxel + prednisone therapy after becoming androgen resistant. No relationship was found between any of the parameters and the response to therapy. Conclusion Although NLR was found effective in predicting the PSA response in docetaxel + prednisone therapy, neither NLR nor any other clinical parameter was found effective in predicting the outcome and the role of NLR in the future of CRPC is questionable.