Researchers associated a higher neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and comorbidity burden with decreased survival among patients with myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN), according to results published in Blood Cancer Journal. Hans Carl Hasselbalch, MD, PhD, and colleagues examined the impact of NLR on mortality among 835,430 individuals, stratified by prevalent and incident MPN, essential thrombocytopenia (ET), polycythemia vera (PV), myelofibrosis (MF), comorbidity burden, and the Triple-A risk score, which is calculated based on age, absolute neutrophil granulocyte count, and absolute lymphocyte count. Higher NLR levels were associated with increased all-cause mortality. Specifically, an NLR of 6 or higher had an HR of 2.06 for the general population and 2.93 for prevalent MPN cases. The study team noted similar trends with ET, PV, MF, and incident MPN cases. Moreover, mortality risk increased with higher NLR levels and comorbidity burden, particularly among those with MPN. The Triple-A risk score showed alignment with NLR findings.
