The Preoperative Peripheral Blood Monocyte Count Is Associated with Liver Metastasis and Overall Survival in Colorectal Cancer Patients

BackgroundColorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common malignancy in males and the second most common in females worldwide. Distant metastases have a strong negative impact on the prognosis of CRC patients. The most common site of CRC metastases is the liver. Both disease progression and metastasis have been related to the patient’s peripheral blood monocyte count. We therefore performed a case-control study to assess the relationship between the preoperative peripheral blood monocyte count and colorectal liver metastases (CRLM).MethodsClinical data from 117 patients with colon cancer and 93 with rectal cancer who were admitted to the Chinese People’s Liberation Army General Hospital (Beijing, China) between December 2003 and May 2015 were analysed retrospectively, with the permission of both the patients and the hospital.ResultsPreoperative peripheral blood monocyte counts, the T and N classifications of the primary tumour and its primary site differed significantly between the two groups (P 0.505 × 109 cells/L, high T classification and liver metastasis were independent risk factors for 5-year OS (RR: 2.737, 95% CI: 1.573~ 4.764, P ConclusionsThe demonstrated association between preoperative peripheral blood monocyte count and liver metastasis in patients with CRC recommends the former as a useful predictor of postoperative prognosis in CRC patients.