Increased neutrophil–lymphocyte ratio independently predicts poor survival in non‐metastatic triple‐negative breast cancer patients

Inflammation plays an important role in tumor initiation, progression, and metastasis. The neutrophil–lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is widely used to evaluate global inflammation in various tumor types. However, the prognostic role of NLR in non‐metastatic triple‐negative breast cancer (TNBC) patients was poorly known. The aim of this study was to explore the association between pre‐treatment NLR and survival in TNBC patients. Data were collected for patients with stages I–III TNBC from 2006 to 2013 at Linyi Central Hospital to analyze pre‐treatment NLR and survival. Overall survival (OS) and disease‐free survival (DFS) were estimated by the Kaplan–Meier method, and Cox analysis was performed to determine clinicopathological parameters for their prognostic relevance. A total of 406 patients were eligible. Patients with NLR lower than 2.85 exhibited significantly higher OS (P