Blood cell count is not a significant predictor of survival in bladder cancer after radical cystectomy

Abstract

Background Radical cystectomy (RC) is the gold standard treatment for muscle-invasive bladder carcinoma. A predictive factor is needed for the aggressive approach as it could lead to overtreatment. Elevated blood cell count (BCC) markers are reported to have a significant association with poor outcomes in several types of malignancy. Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte-ratio (NLR) and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) are well-known inexpensive and effective representative markers of inflammatory conditions. This study aimed to determine the BCC as a predictive factor of overall survival (OS) in patients with bladder carcinoma (BC) after RC. Methods A retrospective cohort study was conducted involving 26 patients who had undergone RC. The demographic characteristics and BCC markers such as hemoglobin (Hb). NLR, PLR and lymphocyte/monocyte ratio (LMR) were collected. The patients were categorized based on the BCC marker value (³ median and < median). Kaplan–Meier survival analysis was done to determine overall survival (OS) on BCC markers. The association between patient demographics and one-year survival was also determined using Mantel-Cox (Log-rank) method. Results Among the 26 patients, the mean age was 55.6 ± 12.9 years. On univariate analysis, none of the demographic characteristics was found to be a significant predictor of one-year and overall survival (p>0.05). Hemoglobin, NLR, PLR and LMR were not significant predictors of one-year survival and OS (p>0.05). Conclusions The BCC was not a significant predictive factor of survival in patients with bladder cancer after radical cystectomy.