The role of preoperative complete blood count indices in the distinction of papillary thyroid cancer from nodular goiter

Abstract

Aim: Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratios (respectively, NLR and PLR) have been associated with poor prognosis in various cancers. This study was conducted to investigate PLR and NLR in patients with papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) and nodular goiter (NG).

Materials and Methods: Patients who had undergone thyroidectomy at our center were reviewed and the demographic, clinical and histopathological characteristics of patients with PTC or NG were recorded. Hemogram (complete blood count) results were used to calculate NLR and PLR.

Results: The groups were similar with respect to age, gender and thyroiditis characteristics. The NG group was found to have significantly larger gland size compared to the PTC group. NLR and PLR values were similar in the two groups (p=0.556 and p= 0.841 respectively).

Conclusion: PLR and NLR appear to be exceedingly similar in PTC and NG, and therefore, they cannot be used to distinguish between PTC and NG. However, it may be valuable to conduct future studies that take into account lesion size when comparing these parameters in thyroid nodules.