Background: Both inflammation and immunity are associated with the development of malignancy. The lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio (LMR) has been confirmed as a prognostic factor for several malignant diseases. The purpose of our study was to analyze prognostic significance of preoperative LMR in hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related hepatocellular carcinoma after curative resection.
Patients and methods: A total of 253 patients with primary HBV-positive hepatocellular carcinoma who underwent a curative operation were enrolled in this retrospective study. The relationship between preoperative LMR and survival outcomes was analyzed through Kaplan–Meier curves and multivariate Cox regression analyses.
Results: Patients with a high LMR had a significantly higher mean overall survival than those with a low LMR (67 months vs 55 months, P =0.023), and high LMR remained significant for longer survival in the multivariate analysis (hazard ratio, 0.147; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.085–0.253; P =0.021). Furthermore, patients with a high LMR also had a higher median recurrence-free survival than those with a low LMR in univariate analyses (60 months vs 48 months, P =0.026) and multivariate analyses (hazard ratio, 0.317; 95% CI: 0.042–1.023; P =0.032). However, the survival benefit was limited to patients with advanced cancer.
Conclusion: LMR was confirmed as an independent prognostic biomarker for primary HBV-positive hepatocellular carcinoma after curative resection.
Keywords: lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio, survival, HBV, hepatocellular carcinoma