Prognostic value of the platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio in lung cancer patients receiving immunotherapy: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Haoyu Wang; Cui Li; Ruiyuan Yang; Jing Jin; Dan Liu; Weimin Li

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0268288

Prognostic value of the platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio in lung cancer patients receiving immunotherapy: A systematic review and meta-analysis

PLoS One. 2022 May 6;17(5):e0268288. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0268288. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Haoyu Wang^{1

2}, Cui Li², Ruiyuan Yang¹, Jing Jin¹, Dan Liu¹, Weimin Li^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, China.
² Institute of Respiratory Health, Frontiers Science Center for Disease-related Molecular Network, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, China.

Abstract

Background: Current studies have revealed that the platelet to lymphocyte ratio (PLR) may lead to a poor prognosis in lung cancer patients receiving immunotherapy. We conducted a meta-analysis to explore the prognostic value of PLR in lung cancer patients receiving immunotherapy.

Methods: We retrieved potential studies from the PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, and Scopus databases up to June 2021 and merged the hazard ratios (HRs) and the corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) to evaluate the association between PLR and overall survival (OS) or progression-free survival.

Results: Fourteen studies involving 1761 patients were included in our meta-analysis. The results indicated that an elevated level of pretreatment PLR was associated with poorer OS and PFS in lung cancer patients receiving immunotherapy (OS: HR = 1.88, 95% CI: 1.37-2.58; PFS: HR = HR = 1.40, 95% CI: 1.11-1.76). The association remained consistent after subgroup analysis and was robust even after sensitivity analysis.

Conclusions: PLR may be a prognostic factor of lung cancer patients receiving immunotherapy, which can lead to worse survival outcomes. However, further studies are necessary for evidence in clinical application.

Publication types

Meta-Analysis
Systematic Review
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Blood Platelets
Humans
Immunologic Factors
Immunotherapy
Lung Neoplasms* / therapy
Lymphocytes*
Prognosis

Substances

Immunologic Factors

Grants and funding

This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China [grant numbers 91859203 and 81871890] and Major Science and Technology Innovation Project of Chengdu City [grant number 2020-YF08-00080-GX] and the funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.