Charlson comorbidity index is not associated with neutrophil-lymphocytes ratio in unselected hospitalized cancer patients: A cross-sectional study

This study sought to evaluate the association between Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) and neutrophil lymphocyte ratio (NLR). Cross-sectional study evaluated 134 patients of both sexes diagnosed with several types of cancer. NLR was calculated by dividing the absolute value of neutrophils by lymphocytes count, and the CCI questionnaire was used to assess the risk of comorbidities and mortality. The sample was dichotomized in CCI < 5 or ≥5. Student's t-test and Chi-square test were calculated to analyze the differences. The association between CCI and NLR was investigated by logistic regression analysis, performed with model 1 (crude) and model 2 (adjusted). The patients in the CCI ≥ 5 group were older, with higher neutrophil levels and prevalence of solid tumor type. There was no difference between groups regarding type of treatment, body weight, body mass index, performance status, lymphocyte count and NLR. There was no association between CCI and NLR, in both crude model (OR: 1.04 [95% CI: 0.99-1.09], p = 0.09), as well as adjusted for sex, age, physical activity, alcohol consumption, smoking habit, type of treatment, and performance status (OR: 1.04 [95% CI:0.97-1.12], p = 0.19). In hospitalized unselected cancer patients, despite of small sample size and design of study, we showed the presence of comorbidities is not related to the NLR.