This study was designed to investigate the prognostic value of the neutrophil:lymphocyte ratio (NLR) in cervical cancer. Patients with clinically staged cervical carcinoma (IB to IVA) at Samsung Medical Center, Seoul, Korea, from 1996 to 2007 were retrospectively enrolled. We enrolled 1061 patients with cervical cancer. The median NLR was 1.9, with a range of 0.3-27.0. When the cohort was divided according to the median NLR, poorer survival outcomes were observed in the group with higher NLR (≥1.9) than in the lower NLR group (<1.9). Patients of the higher NLR group (≥1.9) were younger in age and had more advanced staged disease when compared with those of the lower NLR group (<1.9). In multivariable analysis, higher pretreatment NLR was identified as being an independent poor prognostic factor for survival. Pretreatment NLR may be a cost-effective biomarker to stratify risk of recurrence and death in patients with cervical cancer.