CRP and Increased total leukocyte count: Accordingly, an increased systemic inflammatory response as indicated by a range of surrogate biomarkers (e.g. elevated C-reactive protein, hypoalbuminemia, leukocytosis, thrombocytosis, etc.)– including NLR and PLR – have been shown to be associated with treatment response and outcome in a variety of malignancies, and several of these have been incorporated into prognostic scoring systems for various types of cancer [34–36].