THE ROLE OF THE SYSTEMIC INFLAMMATORY RESPONSE IN THE DIFFERENTIAL DIAGNOSIS OF GASTRIC PATHOLOGIES

Introduction: Gastric cancer continues to be one of the most common cancers in the world, even though its incidence has decreased in some countries. Despite developments in diagnosis and treatment techniques, the disease may progress after operation despite adjuvant treatment combinations(2). Thus, early diagnosis is important. In this study, the role of the systemic immune response (SIR) was assessed by the neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and the thrombocyte/lymphocyte ratio (TLR) in relation to the diagnosis of gastric malignant-benign pathologies performed using upper gastrointestinal system endoscopy.

Material and methods: In total, 1916 patients were included in this study, of whom 964 (50.3%) were male and 952 (49.7%) were female. All subject had undergone upper gastrointestinal system endoscopy in the Batman Regional State Hospital Endoscopy Unit between 2010 and 2012.

Results: When SIR was evaluated with the NLR, it was positive in 1415 (73.9%) patients. When the patients were grouped based on their pathological diagnosis, there was no relationship between the pathological diagnosis and the SIR determined by the NLR (p=0.629). When SIR was evaluated with the TLR, it was positive in 1450 (75.7%) patients. When the patients were grouped based on their pathological diagnosis, there was no relationship between the pathological diagnosis and the SIR determined by the TLR (p=0.944). Endoscopy is a standard method for the differential diagnosis of gastric pathologies.

Conclusion: We have demonstrated that NLR and TLR, which are indicators of the systemic inflammatory response, do not play a role in increasing the diagnostic strength of endoscopy. Additionally, we believe that easily accessible, cheap, and easy-to-use laboratory methods can be developed with further studies on this topic.