Prognostic value of systemic inflammatory marker in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma undergoing surgical resection.

To explore the prognostic value of the systemic inflammatory marker (SIM) based on neutrophil, lymphocyte and monocyte counts in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) patients. We retrospectively collected the data of 367 patients with HNSCC who underwent surgery. The Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and Cox regression analysis were conducted on disease-free survival and overall survival. A high SIM (>1.34) was associated with larger tumor size, advanced clinical stage and shorter survival time. The survival analysis showed that only clinical stage and SIM were independent prognostic indicators of disease-free survival and overall survival. The SIM positively correlated with tumor progression and might be a powerful prognostic indicator of poor outcome in patients with HNSCC.