Objective To discuss the diagnostic value of peripheral blood neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) in the tumor patients with pathogens infection. Methods The clinical data of 43 tumor patients with pathogens infection (the infection group) and 43 tumor patients without pathogens infection (the non-infection group) ever treated in our hospital from Apr 2014 to Jan 2016 were retrospectively analyzed. The variability and correlation of leukocyte count, neutrophils count, lymphocyte count, NLR, hemoglobin (Hb) level and serum albumin (ALB) level in the two groups were statistically analyzed and compared with the healthy controls. The risk factors of pathogens infection in the tumor patients were analyzed by binary logistic regression, and the diagnostic value of NLR in the tumor patients with pathogens infection were evaluated by receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curves. Results NLR of the infection group was significantly higher than those of the non-infection group and healthy controls, and NLR of the non-infection group was also significantly higher than that of healthy controls (P=0.000). Leukocyte count and neutrophils count of the infection group were significantly higher than those of the non-infection group and healthy controls (P=0.000, P=0.001), while no significant difference was found between the non-infection group and the healthy controls (P=0.240, P=0.666). Lymphocyte count, Hb and ALB levels of the infection group were significantly lower than those of the non-infection group and healthy controls (P=0.000, P=0.000, P=0.003), and those of the non-infection group were also significantly lower than those of healthy controls (P=0.000, P=0.000, P=0.000). NLR of the tumor patients was negatively associated with their serum ALB levels, Hb levels and lymphocyte count (r=-0.530, r=-0.216, r=-0.740; P=0.000, P=0.046, P=0.000), and was positively associated with their neutrophils count (r=0.604, P=0.000). Logistic regression analysis showed that the increase of NLR and the decrease of ALB were independent risk factors of the tumor patients with pathogens infection (P=0.001, P=0.023). ROC curves resulted that area under the curve (AUC) of NLR was 0.864 (P=0.000), and when the NLR value being 4.19 and 4.62, the NLR sensitivity of infection diagnosis were 88.39% and 83.7%, the NLR specificity were 69.77% and 74.4%, respectively, with the best diagnostic value. The AUC of neutrophils count was 0.647 (P=0.018), and the leukocyte count showed no diagnostic value for infection (P=0.237). Conclusion The peripheral blood NLR shows diagnositic value in the tumor patients with pathogens infection, and it also has correlation with the ALB and Hb levels. |