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Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio after pazopanib treatment predicts response in patients with advanced soft-tissue sarcoma

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Abstract

Background

Pazopanib is a multi-tyrosine kinase inhibitor that is used to treat advanced soft-tissue sarcoma, and its efficacy has been confirmed in several clinical trials, although no clinically useful biomarkers have been identified. In other cancers, the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), the platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), and the lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio (LMR) are associated with chemotherapy response and prognosis. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate the associations of pazopanib response with NLR, PLR, and LMR among patients with advanced soft-tissue sarcoma.

Methods

Data regarding NLR, PLR, and LMR were obtained for 25 patients who received pazopanib for soft-tissue sarcoma. The patients were categorized according to their values for NLR (≥3.8 vs. <3.8), PLR (≥230 vs. <230), and LMR (≥2.4 vs. <2.4), and we evaluated the associations of these markers with progression-free survival and overall survival using Kaplan–Meier curves and Cox proportional models.

Results

No significant differences in progression-free survival or overall survival were observed based on the pre-treatment NLR, PLR, and LMR values. However, decreased NLR values after treatment using pazopanib were independently associated with significantly prolonged progression-free survival (hazard ratio: 0.07, p = 0.001) and overall survival (hazard ratio: 0.17, p = 0.0006).

Conclusions

Decreased NLR values after treatment using pazopanib may predict high efficacy and favorable outcomes among patients with advanced soft-tissue sarcoma.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, The University of Tokyo Hospital, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8655, Japan

    Hiroshi Kobayashi, Toshihide Hirai, Masachika Ikegami, Ryoko Sawada, Yusuke Shinoda & Sakae Tanaka

  2. Department of Musculoskeletal Oncology, Tokyo Metropolitan Cancer and Infectious Diseases Center Komagome Hospital, 3-18-22 Honkomagome, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8677, Japan

    Tomotake Okuma, Takahiro Ohki & Takahiro Goto

  3. Department of Medical Research and Management for Musculoskeletal Pain, 22nd Century Medical and Research Center, Faculty of Medicine, The University of Tokyo Hospital, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8655, Japan

    Hiroyuki Oka

  4. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Saitama Medical Center, Jichi Medical University, 1-847 Amanuma, Omiya-ku, Saitama-shi, Saitama, 330-8503, Japan

    Toru Akiyama

  5. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, University of Teikyo, 2-11-1 Kaga, Itabashi-ku, Tokyo, 173-8606, Japan

    Kenji Sato, Satoshi Abe & Hirotaka Kawano

Authors
  1. Hiroshi Kobayashi
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  2. Tomotake Okuma
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  3. Hiroyuki Oka
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  4. Toshihide Hirai
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  7. Ryoko Sawada
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  8. Yusuke Shinoda
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  11. Satoshi Abe
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  12. Hirotaka Kawano
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  13. Takahiro Goto
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  14. Sakae Tanaka
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hiroshi Kobayashi.

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This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

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All authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest relevant to this manuscript.

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Kobayashi, H., Okuma, T., Oka, H. et al. Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio after pazopanib treatment predicts response in patients with advanced soft-tissue sarcoma. Int J Clin Oncol 23, 368–374 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10147-017-1199-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10147-017-1199-6

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