Significance of combined preoperative serum Alb and dNLR for diagnosis of pancreatic cancer

Aim: To investigate diagnostic value of preoperative inflammatory biomarkers in pancreatic cancer (PCC). Materials & methods: Preoperative circulating Alb/Fib ratio, neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR), derived NLR (dNLR), platelet/lymphocyte ratio and lymphocyte/monocyte ratio were detected and calculated in 226 PCC individuals, 232 healthy controls and 142 additional cancer controls. Receiver-operating characteristic curve and area under the curve (AUC) were used to evaluate the diagnostic efficacy of PCC. Results: Combined circulating dNLR and Alb could effectively improve the diagnosis of PCC (AUC = 0.931), single dNLR could distinguish early-stage PCC and the disease from healthy controls (AUC = 0.895) and additional cancer controls (AUC = 0.794). Conclusion: Circulating dNLR was an effective biomarker for diagnosis and identification of early-stage PCC. Combined dNLR and Alb could improve the diagnostic efficacy of the disease.