Impact of Pre-operative Lymphocyte and Albumin Combination on Adjuvant Chemotherapy and Prognosis of Gastric Cancer.

Background/aim: Cancer-associated systemic inflammatory response is a pivotal indicator of tumor progression and prognosis in various cancers. "Lymphocyte × albumin (LA)" is a prognostic inflammatory marker in rectal cancer. This study examined the correlation between LA, complete adjuvant chemotherapy (ACT), and prognosis in patients with gastric cancer (GC) who underwent radical gastrectomy.

Patients and methods: We retrospectively evaluated 108 patients with stage II/III GC who underwent radical gastrectomy at our institute between January 2015 and December 2021. Survival was assessed using Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression analyses. Factors associated with complete ACT were identified using logistic regression analysis.

Results: Of the 108 patients with GC, 60 (55.6%) and 41 (38.0%) initiated and completed ACT, respectively. In multivariate analysis, the pre-operative LA was an independent factor for complete ACT [hazard ratio (HR)=0.35, 95% confidence interval (CI)=0.121-0.995; p=0.049]. In addition, age, pre-operative creatinine clearance, neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, modified Glasgow prognostic score, and poor overall survival were significantly associated with low LA (<7,474). LA was an independent prognostic factor for overall survival in univariate analysis (HR=2.29, 95%CI=1.020-5.145; p=0.045) but not in multivariate analysis (HR=2.00, 95%CI=0.882-4.552; p=0.097).

Conclusion: Pre-operative LA is a useful marker for predicting complete ACT and prognosis of patients with GC following radical gastrectomy.