Complete Blood Cell Count-Derived Inflammatory Biomarkers in Early-Stage Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer

Background: Complete blood cell count (CBC)-derived inflammatory biomarkers are widely used as prognostic parameters for various malignancies, but the best predictive biomarker for early-stage non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is unclear. We retrospectively analyzed early-stage NSCLC patients to investigate predictive effects of preoperative CBC-derived inflammatory biomarkers. Patients and Methods: We selected 311 consecutive patients with pathological stage IA NSCLC surgically resected from April 2006 to December 2012. Univariate and multivariate Cox proportional analyses of recurrence-free survival (RFS) were used to test the preoperative systemic immune inflammation index (SII), neutrophil–lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet–lymphocyte ratio (PLR), and monocyte–lymphocyte ratio (MLR). Results: Preoperative high MLR levels were significantly associated with patient sex, smoking status, and postoperative recurrence (p 2 cm had significantly shorter RFS than other subgroups (p = 0.0289). Conclusions: The preoperative MLR level is the optimal predictor of recurrence in patients with pathological stage IA NSCLC.