A high neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio as a potential marker of mortality in patients with Merkel cell carcinoma: A retrospective study

{Background: The prognostic relevance of a high blood neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) has been reported in many cancers, although, to our knowledge, not investigated in patients with Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) to date. Objective: We assessed whether the NLR at baseline was associated with specific survival and recurrence-free survival in MCC. Methods: We retrospectively included MCC cases between 1999 and 2015 and collected clinical data, blood cell count at baseline, and outcome. A Cox model was used to identify factors associated with recurrence and death from MCC. Results: Among the 75 patients included in the study, a high NLR at baseline (NLR >= 4) was associated with death from MCC in univariate (hazard ratio 2.76, 95% confidence interval 1.15-6.62