Author Interviews, Biomarkers, Cancer, Cancer Research, University of Pennsylvania / 28.10.2016
Biomarker NLR Found Not Predictive of Bladder Cancer Survival
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Eric Ojerholm, MD
Resident, Radiation Oncology
Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Multiple studies reported that a blood test —the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR)—might be a helpful biomarker for bladder cancer patients. If this were true, NLR would be very appealing because it is inexpensive and readily available. However, previous studies had several methodological limitations.
MedicalResearch.com: What did you do in this study
Response: We therefore put NLR to the test by performing a rigorous “category B” biomarker study—this is a study that uses prospectively collected biomarker data from a clinical trial. We used data from SWOG 8710, which was a phase III randomized trial that assessed surgery with or without chemotherapy for patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer. We tested two questions.
First, could NLR tell us how long a bladder cancer patient would live after curative treatment?
Second, could NLR predict which patients would benefit from chemotherapy before surgery?
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