Evaluation of prognostic factors including nutritional biomarkers in advanced gastric cancer patients

Abstract

Aim：The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of inflammatory response and nutritional condition in patients receiving chemotherapy for advanced gastric cancer．
Methods：Two hundred and forty‐five patients who received chemotherapy for advanced gastric cancer at Kochi Medical School between 2007 and 2015 were examined. Clinicopathological information and systemic inflammatory response markers were obtained, and associations between baseline cancer‐related prognostic variables and survival were investigated．
Results：The median neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio（NLR）was 3.9（0.5–31.5），and a significant negative correlation was found between the NLR and patient survival time（r＝ ‐0.160； P ＝0.021）．The median prognostic nutritional index（PNI）was 36.1（17.0–50.1），and a significant positive correlation was found between the PNI and patient survival time（r＝0.151； P ＝0.029）．On multivariate survival analysis, a high NLR of 3.9（HR 1.550；95％CI 1.125–2.394； P ＝0.005）and diffuse‐type histology（HR 1.457；95％CI 1.043–2.598； P ＝0.042）were significant independent factors associated with a poorer prognosis．
Conclusions：The NLR and histological type are independent prognostic factors in patients receiving chemotherapy for unresectable and recurrent gastric cancer.