Combination of Neutrophil-to-Lymphocyte Ratio and Red Cell Distribution Width With Serum Tumor Markers for the Differential Diagnosis of Breast Cancer and its Association With Pathological Features and Molecular Types

To explore the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), red cell distribution width (RDW) and serum tumor markers as differential diagnostic markers of breast cancer (BC) and breast fibroadenoma (FA) and their associations with histopathological indicators and molecular typing in BC patients.We collected pathological and routine clinical test data [NLR, RDW, serum tumor markers (CEA, CA15-3, CA125, CA19-9)] of 653 patients with BC and 100 patients with FA. After identifying indicators with significant inter-group differences, we used ROC curves to determine clinically significant cutoff values. Binary logistic regression analyses and ROC curves were used to analyze combined models for the differential diagnosis of BC and FA. Ordinal multinomial logistic regression analysis was used to explore correlations between routine clinical test indicators and pathological BC features.The BC and FA groups had significantly different CEA, NLR, and CA19-9 levels (P < .05), with respective areas under the curve (AUC) of 0.799, 0.747, and 0.711 for differentiating BC from FA and respective optimal cutoff values of 1.35 ng/mL, 1.58, and 8.55 U/mL. Binary logistic regression and ROC curve analysis showed that CEA was superior to the other 2 factors for the differential diagnosis of BC and FA. whereas the combined use of all three indicators was diagnostically most effective (AUC = 0.886; 95% confidence interval: 0.838-0.933, P = .000; sensitivity and/or specificity: 76.5%/88.9%). Ordered multinomial logistic regression analysis showed that NLR, CEA, and CA15-3 correlated positively with BC TNM staging; RDW was negatively correlated with BC histological grade; RDW, CA15-3 and CA125 were obviously associated with BC molecular typing.The combination of CEA, NLR, and CA19-9 may be used to screen and diagnose BC. NLR, CEA and CA15-3 are related to the TNM staging of BC. RDW is related to BC histological grading. RDW, CA15-3 and CA125 are related to BC molecular typing.