Neutrophil/Lymphocyte Ratio as a Marker of Infections in Patients Hospitalized in the Oncology Palliative Care Service

zObjective: We aimed to evaluate the correlation of procalcitonin level with neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and to establish a cut-off value that can be used as an indicator parameter for oncological inpatient.Methods: Study design is a cross sectional.The study was executed retrospectively on 640 patients with at least one oncological diagnosis.Demographic data, serum albumin, C-reactive protein (CRP), procalcitonin levels, and complete blood count data on the day of admission were attained. Results:The average procalcitonin level was found to be 63.47% between 01/11/2021 and 30/01/2022 in the Clinic of Oncological Palliative Care, University of Health Sciences Trkiye, zmir Tepecik Education and Research Hospital.The NLR cut-off value is 6.97 with sensitivity and specificity of 68% and 64%, respectively.There was a medium-level positive correlation between procalcitonin with leukocyte and neutrophil number (r=0.419). Conclusion:The NLR parameter, which can be determined through complete blood count, can be used nearly as effectively as albumin or CRP for the detection of infection.This approach might prevent unnecessary antibiotic usage, thereby affecting the cost-effectiveness issue positively.