Objective To investigate the prognostic value of the preoperative platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) and the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) collected from peripheral blood of esophageal cancer (EC) patients.

Methods The clinical data of 137 patients who underwent esophagectomy from January 2010 to December 2011 were analyzed retrospectively. According to preoperative PLR and NLR, the patients were divided into low PLR group (PLR < 120) and high PLR group (PLR≥120) or low NLR group (PLR < 120) and high PLR group (PLR≥120). Disease free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) were assessed using Kaplan-Meier method. The prognostic significance of both markers was then determined by both univariate and multivariate analytical methods.

Results The high PLR group had a much lower 5-year OS compared with the low PLR group (30.9% vs. 50.7%, P=0.017) as well as DFS (30.9% vs. 47.8%, P=0.033). The high NLR group had a much lower 5-year OS compared with the low NLR group (29.0% vs. 52.9%, P=0003) as well as DFS (29.0% vs. 50.0%, P=0.006). Multivariate analysis revealed that the differentiation, clinical stage and NLR were identified as independent risk factors for poor prognosis of EC patients.

Conclusion PLR and NLR might predict the prognosis of EC patients. NLR could be an independent predictive factor for EC.