SynthesisBMC cancer2025
Prognostic value of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma receiving curative therapies: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in BMC cancer, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed.
- Preoperative Total Iron-Binding Capacity Is a Novel Surrogate Marker of Short- and Long-Term Outcomes After Liver Resection for Hepatocellular Carcinoma.Annals of gastroenterological surgery · 2026Article
- Infiltrative hepatocellular carcinoma resistance: Integrating microenvironment, host factors, and therapy.Clinical and molecular hepatology · 2026Article
- The red cell distribution width to albumin ratio as a novel predictor of 180-day mortality in lung cancer patients.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Analysis of survival prognosis and influencing factors in patients with primary liver cancer after D-TACE: a retrospective cohort study.BMC gastroenterology · 2026Article
- Preoperative Prognostic Score for Patients with Intrahepatic Cholangiocarcinoma Undergoing Curative-Intent Resection.Medical sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Clinical Value of Inflammatory Indexes in Predicting Post-Transplantation Prognosis in Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A Retrospective Cohort Study.Journal of inflammation research · 2026Article
- Prognostic significance of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratios in hepatocellular carcinoma: a retrospective multicenter study on overall and recurrence-free survival following liver resection or liver transplantation.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Article
- The prognostic value of selected indices combination in hepatocellular carcinoma patients treated with sorafenib.Reports of practical oncology and radiotherapy : journal of Greatpoland Cancer Center in Poznan and Polish Society of Radiation Oncology · 2026Article
- Constructing and validating a prognostic prediction nomogram model for hepatocellular carcinoma patients following high-intensity focused ultrasound treatment.Frontiers in oncology · 2026Article
- Protein Induced by Vitamin K Absence or Antagonist II in Primary Liver Cancer: Basic Research Insights and Clinical Applications.Journal of clinical and translational hepatology · 2025Review
- Visit‑to‑visit variability of inflammation-immunity indices and prognosis in hepatocellular carcinoma.BMC gastroenterology · 2025Article
- Higher NLR Values Can Predict Gram-Negative Spontaneous Bacterial Peritonitis and a High In-Hospital Mortality Rate in Patients with Spontaneous Bacterial Peritonitis.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Concordance Index-Based Comparison of Inflammatory and Classical Prognostic Markers in Untreated Hepatocellular Carcinoma.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Article
- Immune and Inflammation Markers as a Predictor of Overall Survival in Patients with Hematologic Malignancies: A Retrospective Cohort Study.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundHepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the leading causes of cancer-related mortality worldwide. The prognostic significance of the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) in HCC patients has been extensively studied; however, the prognostic value of NLR in HCC patients undergoing curative treatment remains unclear.
objectiveThis systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to comprehensively evaluate the precise significance of preoperative and postoperative NLR in predicting the prognosis of HCC patients receiving curative treatment.
methodsWe conducted a comprehensive search of the PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase, and Web of Science databases from inception to August 2024. Studies that included univariate and multivariate analyses evaluating the association between NLR and survival outcomes in HCC patients undergoing resection, transplantation, or ablation were included. The prognostic value of NLR in HCC patients receiving curative treatment was analyzed by calculating pooled hazard ratios (HRs) and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs).
resultsA total of 43 studies involving 9,952 patients were included. Meta-analysis revealed that higher NLR was significantly associated with worse overall survival (OS) (HR = 1.55, 95% CI = 1.39-1.75, P < 0.001), recurrence-free survival (RFS) (HR = 1.77, 95% CI = 1.49-2.10, P < 0.001), and disease-free survival (DFS) (HR = 1.42, 95% CI = 1.25-1.63, P < 0.001) in HCC patients undergoing curative treatment. Subgroup analysis demonstrated a significant association between NLR and poor OS, independent of geographic region, type of survival analysis, preoperative or postoperative measurement, treatment modality, or NLR cutoff value. Publication bias and sensitivity analyses confirmed the robustness of these findings.
conclusionElevated NLR is significantly associated with poorer OS, RFS, and DFS in HCC patients receiving curative treatment. Future research should focus on validating the optimal NLR threshold and exploring its predictive ability in different clinical settings.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.