Association between prognostic immune nutritional index and disease-free survival in adults with esophageal cancer following surgery: A retrospective cohort study

Introduction

The clinical significance of the prognostic immune nutritional index in esophageal cancer has not been elucidated. The aim of this study was to evaluate the utility of the preoperative prognostic immune nutritional index in predicting oncological outcomes and the incidence of surgical site infection in patients with esophageal cancer.

Methods

We analyzed preoperative prognostic immune nutritional index from 150 esophageal cancer patients who underwent surgical treatment between 2008 and 2018 to clarify its clinical relevance.

Results

Patients with low preoperative prognostic immune nutritional index exhibited poor disease-free survival and overall survival (P = 0.030 and P < 0.001, respectively). Although statistical significance was not observed in the multivariate analysis, low prognostic immune nutritional index showed a tendency toward poorer disease-free survival (hazard ratio [HR]: 2.02; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.88–4.61; P = 0.096). Regarding overall survival, multivariate analysis revealed that low preoperative prognostic immune nutritional index was an independent prognostic factor for overall survival (HR: 2.67; 95% CI: 1.39–5.16; P = 0.003). Moreover, the low preoperative prognostic immune nutritional index was associated with a tendency toward an increased risk of surgical site infection (odds ratio: 2.38; 95% CI: 0.96–5.91; P = 0.062). In the subgroup analysis of patients who did not receive neoadjuvant therapy, low preoperative prognostic immune nutritional index was identified as an independent prognostic factor for disease-free survival (HR: 3.11; 95% CI: 1.00–9.71; P = 0.050) and overall survival (HR: 5.04; 95% CI: 1.80–14.13; P = 0.002).

Conclusion

The preoperative prognostic immune nutritional index is a useful marker for perioperative and oncological management of esophageal cancer patients.