Diagnostic Accuracy of Procalcitonin, Neutrophil-to-Lymphocyte Ratio, and C-Reactive Protein in Detection of Bacterial Infections and Prediction of Outcome in Nonneutropenic Febrile Patients with Lung Malignancy

Table 2

Comparison of blood inflammatory markers between bacteria-infected subgroup A and TF subgroup A in NNLCPs.

Variable	Bacteria-infected subgroup A (N = 69)	TF subgroup A (N = 56)	value Mann–Whitney
PCT median (range) (ng/mL)	0.24 (0.04, 18.62)	0.05 (0.02, 1.58)^a	<0.0001
CRP median (range) (mg/L)	53.2 (0.6, 358.3)	6.3 (0.2, 89.4)	<0.0001
WBC median (range) (10^9/L)	8.49 (1.1, 42.54)	5.24 (1.89, 15.82)	<0.0001
NEU median (range) (10^9/L)	7.39 (0.73, 41.32)	3.56 (0.96, 13.94)	<0.0001
NLR median (range)	12.15 (1.03, 189.80)	3.27 (0.69, 39.00)	<0.0001

^aNot to overestimate possible differences between the two groups, the values reported as <0.02 by the laboratory were noted as “0.02” for statistical analysis. NNLCPs: nonneutropenic lung cancer patients; TF: tumor fever; PCT: procalcitonin; CRP: C-reactive protein; WBC: white blood cell; NEU: neutrophil; NLR: neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio.