Key Benefits

• Spot cancer-related inflammation using NLR, PLR, SII, SIRI from your CBC.
• Flag elevated scores that correlate with worse outcomes across many cancers.
• Inform prognosis and follow-up discussions alongside stage, pathology, and performance status.
• Track trends during treatment to gauge inflammation and monitor disease activity.
• Clarify if systemic inflammation contributes to fatigue, appetite loss, or weight change.
• Flag sudden spikes suggesting infection or stress, prompting timely evaluation and support.
• Best interpreted with CBC differential, CRP, albumin, and your cancer specifics.
• Not diagnostic for cancer; infections, steroids, and surgery can shift these scores.

What are Cancer-Associated Inflammation

Cancer-associated inflammation biomarkers are measurable signals that reveal how a tumor stirs and exploits the body’s defense and repair system. They capture the conversation between the cancer, nearby support cells, and circulating immune cells (the tumor microenvironment). Many are signaling proteins made during inflammatory stress (cytokines such as interleukin-6 and TNF-alpha), liver-derived acute-phase proteins (C-reactive protein, serum amyloid A), and factors that reshape tissue and blood vessels (pro-angiogenic and matrix-modifying mediators like VEGF and MMPs). Others reflect shifts in immune cell activity and trafficking (chemokines, neutrophil and macrophage activation signals). Together, they mark both local tumor drive and body-wide responses, turning inflammation into a readable fingerprint of cancer biology. Testing these biomarkers helps translate a hidden process into actionable information: it shows whether inflammatory circuits that feed growth, invasion, and metastasis are active; reveals systemic strain; and provides a dynamic readout that can change faster than anatomy on scans. In practice, they complement imaging and genetics by tracking disease biology in real time and by signaling when treatments that target immunity, inflammation, or blood vessels are engaging their targets (pharmacodynamic monitoring).

Why are Cancer-Associated Inflammation biomarkers important?

Cancer‑Associated Inflammation biomarkers translate a simple blood count into a systems view of how much pro‑inflammatory, tumor‑supporting activity (neutrophils, platelets, monocytes) outweighs anti‑tumor immune surveillance (lymphocytes). They reflect the crosstalk between bone marrow, vascular endothelium, liver acute‑phase responses, and the adaptive immune system—signals that shape tumor growth, spread, recovery from therapy, and resilience.

Typical patterns place NLR around 1–3 and PLR near 100–200, with SII commonly a few hundred to under 1,000 and SIRI usually under 1. In general, values toward the lower–middle ranges track with calmer systemic inflammation and preserved lymphocyte reserves; higher values point to more active inflammatory drive.

When these indices run high, they usually indicate neutrophilia, thrombocytosis, and/or monocytosis alongside relative lymphopenia—hallmarks of stress hormones, cytokine‑driven myelopoiesis, and a tumor‑promoting milieu. People may notice fatigue, weight loss, poor appetite, night sweats, or clotting tendencies, and organs under strain can include the heart and vessels (thrombosis), liver (acute‑phase shifts), and muscle (catabolism).

At the low end, mildly lower ratios can reflect balanced immunity with adequate lymphocyte numbers. Very low values can signal cytopenias from marrow suppression, viral illness, or chemotherapy, with infections, mouth ulcers, easy bruising, or bleeding. Children often have lower NLR in early years, whereas pregnancy physiologically raises neutrophils and platelets, nudging NLR, PLR, and SII upward by trimester.

Big picture, these indices integrate innate immunity, coagulation, metabolism, and neuroendocrine stress into one snapshot. Persistently higher levels correlate with worse cancer outcomes, recurrence risk, and cardiovascular events, and they complement markers like CRP and albumin when assessing trajectory over time.

What Insights Will I Get?

Cancer-associated inflammation is a whole-body state that reallocates immune effort, coagulation, and metabolism, affecting energy availability, vascular health, and tissue repair. It can suppress immune surveillance and favor tumor growth. At Superpower, we assess this terrain using four blood-based, cell-count ratios: NLR, PLR, SII, and SIRI.

NLR is the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio; PLR is the platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio. SII combines platelets and neutrophils over lymphocytes (P×N/L), and SIRI combines neutrophils and monocytes over lymphocytes (N×M/L). Higher values generally reflect dominance of innate and pro-coagulant activity (neutrophils, monocytes, platelets) over adaptive immune surveillance (lymphocytes). That pattern is frequently associated with tumor-promoting inflammation, more aggressive biology, and worse prognosis in many cancers, though it is not cancer-specific.

When these indices are balanced, it suggests an immune system with stable surveillance, controlled coagulation, and lower inflammatory load—conditions compatible with healthier metabolism and microvascular function. Persistent elevation implies a stressed, catabolic milieu with heightened tissue damage signaling and clotting tone, which can undermine immune precision and tissue integrity. Absolute values matter less than coherence across indices and their trajectory over time.

Notes: Interpretation is influenced by acute infection, fever, recent surgery or trauma, pregnancy, age, and chronic illnesses. Medications that shift blood counts (glucocorticoids, chemotherapy, immunotherapy, growth factors, NSAIDs) and smoking can alter these markers. Indices derive from CBC differentials; lab methods and timing introduce variability.