Obeagu Emmanuel Ifeanyi
Department of Biomedical and Laboratory Science, Africa University, Mutare, Zimbabwe.
Ann Med Surg (Lond). 2025 Aug 5;87(9):5906-5911. doi: 10.1097/MS9.0000000000003687. eCollection 2025 Sep.
Breast cancer remains the most frequently diagnosed malignancy among women worldwide, with early detection and accurate prognostication crucial for improving survival outcomes. While imaging and histopathological analyses are standard diagnostic tools, there is growing interest in cost-effective, minimally invasive biomarkers that can complement existing modalities - particularly in resource-limited settings. This narrative review explores the role of inflammatory blood markers, including neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), monocyte-to-lymphocyte ratio (MLR), and systemic immune-inflammation index (SII), in breast cancer detection, prognosis, and monitoring of therapeutic response. These markers, derived from routine complete blood counts, reflect the systemic immune landscape and are increasingly associated with tumor progression, treatment resistance, and survival. We also highlight the limitations of these markers, particularly their non-specificity, and compare their utility with established diagnostic and molecular techniques. While not diagnostic alone, these inflammatory indices may serve as adjuncts in clinical decision-making and merit further validation in prospective studies.
乳腺癌仍然是全球女性中最常被诊断出的恶性肿瘤，早期检测和准确的预后评估对于改善生存结果至关重要。虽然影像学和组织病理学分析是标准的诊断工具，但人们越来越关注能够补充现有方法的具有成本效益的微创生物标志物，尤其是在资源有限的环境中。这篇叙述性综述探讨了炎症性血液标志物在乳腺癌检测、预后和治疗反应监测中的作用，这些标志物包括中性粒细胞与淋巴细胞比值（NLR）、血小板与淋巴细胞比值（PLR）、单核细胞与淋巴细胞比值（MLR）以及全身免疫炎症指数（SII）。这些标志物来源于常规全血细胞计数，反映了全身免疫状况，并且越来越多地与肿瘤进展、治疗耐药性和生存相关。我们还强调了这些标志物的局限性，特别是它们的非特异性，并将它们的效用与既定的诊断和分子技术进行了比较。虽然这些炎症指标本身不能作为诊断依据，但它们可能作为临床决策的辅助手段，值得在前瞻性研究中进一步验证。
