Systemic Inflammation Indices in Cancer Prognosis
Summary
Systemic inflammation indices are emerging biomarkers derived from routine blood counts that quantify the balance between pro-tumour inflammation and antitumour immunity. By combining neutrophil, lymphocyte, monocyte and platelet counts into simple ratios or composite scores, these indices—such as the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), systemic immune-inflammation index (SII), systemic inflammation response index (SIRI) and aggregate index of systemic inflammation (AISI)—capture key facets of the host–tumour interaction. Elevated values generally reflect neutrophil-driven tumour promotion, monocyte-mediated immunosuppression or platelet-facilitated metastatic spread, alongside diminished lymphocyte-based antitumour surveillance. Across diverse malignancies, these markers have been shown to complement conventional staging systems, enabling improved risk stratification, guiding adjuvant treatment decisions and offering a minimally invasive means of monitoring therapeutic response. Their low cost and universal availability underpin a global push towards integrating inflammation indices into prognostic nomograms and tailoring cancer care to individual inflammatory profiles.
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Systemic Inflammation Indices in Cancer Prognosis publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in systemic inflammation indices in cancer prognosis across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Systemic Inflammation Response Index (SIRI): A composite marker calculated from neutrophil, monocyte and lymphocyte counts, reflecting the balance between innate inflammatory activity and adaptive immune surveillance.
Neutrophil-to-Lymphocyte Ratio (NLR): The ratio of circulating neutrophils to lymphocytes, used to gauge systemic inflammation and the suppression of antitumour immunity.
Platelet-to-Lymphocyte Ratio (PLR): The quotient of platelet count over lymphocyte count, indicative of tumour-associated inflammation, thrombosis risk and immune status.
Systemic Immune-Inflammation Index (SII): An index combining platelet, neutrophil and lymphocyte counts to capture the triad of thrombosis, inflammation and host immune response in cancer.
Aggregate Index of Systemic Inflammation (AISI): A prognostic metric integrating neutrophil, monocyte and lymphocyte counts to improve survival prediction and assess disease progression risk.
References
- Prognostic and clinicopathological significance of systemic inflammation response index in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Frontiers in Immunology (2024).
- Clinical usefulness of the lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio and aggregate index of systemic inflammation in patients with esophageal cancer: a retrospective cohort study. Cancer Cell International (2023).
- Systemic Inflammation Indices and Association with Prostate Cancer Survival in a Diverse Patient Cohort. Cancers (2023).
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