Abstract
Purpose :
Although only 2-3% of uveal melanoma patients have clinically evident metastatic disease at the time of their primary diagnosis, 50% of patients ultimately develop metastatic disease. As a result, prognostication, ideally through non-invasive methods, is particularly pertinent for this disease. High neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) has been observed to correlate directly with poor prognosis in a number of cancers and other medical conditions. However, the use of the NLR metric is understudied in patients with primary uveal melanoma. The aim of this study was to determine if NLR correlated with overall survival (OS) as well as metastasis free survival (DFS).
Methods :
A retrospective review was conducted from April 2004 to June 2015. A total 372 primary uveal melanoma cases had available laboratory values and were included in the study: 89 patients had primary enucleation and 283 received plaque brachytherapy. Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio was obtained at the time of presurgical testing for enucleation or brachytherapy surgery. All-cause mortality was deemed an event for overall survival. Kaplan-Meier (KM) estimates were generated for overall survival and metastasis-free survival and the Log rank test used for curve comparison.
Results :
The mean calculated NLR was 2.8, and the mean follow-up was 40.6 months. The 4-year KM estimate for overall survival was significantly worse (p=0.003) for patients with NLR > 2.8 (75.5% 95%CI 66-82.7) compared with patients with NLR < 2.8 (90.3% 95%CI 81.3-95.1). The 4-year KM estimate for metastasis-free survival was not significantly different between patients with NLR > 2.8 (86.1% 95%CI 79.4-90.8) or NLR < 2.8 (82.8 95%CI 73.9-88.9).
Conclusions :
Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio may have an association with prognosis in patients with uveal melanoma.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2016 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Seattle, Wash., May 1-5, 2016.