Sundararaju U, Rajakumar HK. Prognostic value of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio in gastric cancer: Enhancing clinical relevance. World J Gastrointest Oncol 2025; 17(4): 103128 [DOI: 10.4251/wjgo.v17.i4.103128]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Hamrish Kumar Rajakumar, Department of General Surgery, Government Medical College, Omandurar Government Estate, Wallajah Road, Chennai 600002, Tamil Nādu, India. hamrishkumar2003@gmail.com
Research Domain of This Article
Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Article-Type of This Article
Letter to the Editor
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Gastrointest Oncol. Apr 15, 2025; 17(4): 103128 Published online Apr 15, 2025. doi: 10.4251/wjgo.v17.i4.103128
Prognostic value of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio in gastric cancer: Enhancing clinical relevance
Umashri Sundararaju, Hamrish Kumar Rajakumar
Umashri Sundararaju, Hamrish Kumar Rajakumar, Department of General Surgery, Government Medical College, Omandurar Government Estate, Chennai 600002, Tamil Nādu, India
Author contributions: Sundararaju U contributed to the conceptualization, reviewing, and editing of the manuscript; Rajakumar HK contributed to the conceptualization of the manuscript and wrote the original draft; All authors have read and approved the final version of the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Hamrish Kumar Rajakumar, Department of General Surgery, Government Medical College, Omandurar Government Estate, Wallajah Road, Chennai 600002, Tamil Nādu, India. hamrishkumar2003@gmail.com
Received: November 11, 2024 Revised: January 10, 2025 Accepted: January 14, 2025 Published online: April 15, 2025 Processing time: 136 Days and 10.9 Hours
Abstract
Gastric cancer (GC) is a leading cause of cancer-related deaths, highlighting the need for reliable prognostic biomarkers to guide treatment. Wei et al’s systematic review and meta-analysis evaluates the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) as a potential biomarker for GC patients undergoing neoadjuvant chemotherapy. NLR is a simple and cost-effective measure of systemic inflammation that shows promise in predicting treatment response and survival outcomes, including overall survival and progression-free survival. However, variations in NLR thresholds and timing of measurements affect its accuracy and clinical utility. Moreover, the studies reviewed primarily involved Asian populations, which may limit the generalizability of the findings. To improve NLR’s clinical relevance, future research should focus on standardizing NLR thresholds, refining measurement timing, and incorporating additional inflammatory markers like platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio and Glasgow prognostic score. Addressing confounders and including diverse patient populations will help improve NLR’s reliability as a prognostic marker for GC.
Core Tip: The neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) shows promise as a prognostic biomarker for gastric cancer, but its clinical use faces challenges, such as inconsistent cut-off values and unclear timing for measurement. Standardizing these factors, exploring additional inflammatory markers, and refining research methodologies will enhance NLR’s reliability and clinical utility in managing gastric cancer.
