Objective To analyze the correlation between preoperative platelet count, lymphocyte count and platelet to lymphocyte ratio (PLR) in peripheral blood and the prognosis in operable patients with invasive breast cancer. Methods A retrospective analysis of 487 female patients who were diagnosed with invasive breast cancer and underwent surgery and adjuvant therapies at Ruijin hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine from January 2009 to December 2010 was performed. Disease free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) were assessed using KaplanMeier method and compared using logrank test. Multivariate analysis employed Cox proportional hazard model. Results The median follow-up time was 55 months. KaplanMeier survival curve analysis revealed that the differences in 5year DFS and OS between patients in high platelet count and low platelet count groups or high lymphocyte count and low lymphocyte count groups were not statistically significant. Patients in the high PLR (≥110.16) group had a much lower 5year DFS compared with patients in the low PLR group (81.2% versus 87.1%, P=0.021). The differences in 5year OS between patients in the high PLR group and the low PLR (<110.16) group was not statistically significant (898% versus 931%, P=0.273). Cox proportional hazard model multivariate analysis revealed that patients in the high PLR group had a much lower DFS compared with patients in the low PLR group (HR=1.796, 95%CI=1.116-2.892, P=0.016). Conclusion PLR is an independent factor for predicting disease free survival in patients with invasive breast cancer, while platelet count and lymphocyte count in peripheral blood are not significant correlated to the prognosis of breast cancer.