Platelet–lymphocyte ratio as a potential prognostic factor in gynecologic cancers: a meta-analysis

Purpose Cancer-related inflammation plays an important role in tumor development and progression. Platelet–lymphocyte ratio (PLR) has been studied as a biomarker for prognosis in gynecologic cancers. But, the results of previous studies were controversial, so we performed this meta-analysis. Methods We searched the scientific database of PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Wanfang, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) using free text and MeSH keywords. Crude HR (hazard ratio) with 95% confidence interval was used to evaluate the risk association between PLR and overall survival (OS) or progression-free survival (PFS) in gynecologic neoplasms. Results There totally 23 studies, including 6869 patients who were eligible, most of which are published after 2015 or later. PLR greater than the cut-off was associated with poorer survival prognosis in ovarian cancer [OS: HR 1.80 (95% CI 1.37–2.37), p = 0.000; PFS: HR 1.63 (95% CI 1.38–1.91), p = 0.000] and cervical cancer [OS: HR 1.36 (95% CI 1.10–1.68), p = 0.005; PFS: HR 1.40 (95% CI 1.16–1.70), p = 0.002], but not in endometrial cancer [OS: HR 1.95 (95% CI 0.65–5.84), p = 0.234]. Conclusions The current meta-analysis revealed that pretreatment PLR was a simple, promising prognostic indicator for OS and PFS in ovarian and cervical cancers. But, its significance of prognosis did not agree with endometrial neoplasm. However, due to the limited number of original studies, future large-scale studies with more well-designed, high-quality studies are still needed.