Stratification of Prognosis in Patients With Ampullary Carcinoma After Surgery by Preoperative Platelet-to-lymphocyte Ratio and Conventional Tumor Markers

Background/Aim: The platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) has recently been suggested as a new predictor of the prognosis in several carcinoma types. However, the clinical impact remains controversial in patients with ampullary carcinoma. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate other useful biomarkers for identifying poor prognosis in patients with ampullary carcinoma. Patients and Methods: Forty-one patients with ampullary carcinoma underwent pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) with curative resection between April 2000 and April 2017. Various clinicopathological findings of the patients and their tumors were evaluated as potential prognostic factors which might enable better stratification of prognosis. Results: Platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio, as well as other markers, was found to be a prognostic factor in patients with ampullary carcinoma. The 2-year disease-free survival percentage was significantly higher in the group with low PLR than in the high PLR group (70.2% vs. 28.6%; p=0.005). Combinational analysis of the PLR and conventional TMs enabled us to stratify prognosis of the patients more clearly than by each marker alone. Conclusion: PLR was a useful prognostic factor for patients with ampullary cancer. The combination of preoperative PLR and conventional TMs markers may be powerful predictive factors for postoperative prognosis in patients with ampullary carcinoma following PD.