The Combination of Preoperative Nutritional Risk Screening-2002 and Neutrophil-to-Lymphocyte Ratio is a Useful Prognostic Marker in Patients with Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the prognostic values of a novel evaluated system, named the CONN (combination of Nutritional Risk Screening 2002 [NRS-2002] and neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio [NLR]), in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) by curative esophagectomy. A total of 278 patients with ESCC receiving standard curative esophagectomy were retrospectively analyzed. The CONN was calculated by combined NRS-2002 and NLR according to the corresponding cutoff values: patients with both elevated NRS-2002 (≥3.0) and NLR (≥3.0) were allocated a score of 2, and patients showing one or neither were allocated a score of 1 or 0, respectively. In our univariate analysis, the following factors were significantly associated with poor PFS and OS: T stage, N stage, TNM stage, NLR, NRS-2002 and CONN (all P < 0.05). Furthermore, multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that N stage (P = 0.039), NRS-2002 (P = 0.041) and CONN (P = 0.001) were independent prognostic factors for PFS. While T stage (P = 0.017), N stage (P = 0.048), NLR (P = 0.021), NRS-2002 (P = 0.001) and CONN (P = 0.001) were independent prognostic factors for OS. In conclusion, CONN was an independent prognostic marker for survival prediction in patients with ESCC receiving surgery.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Authors’ Contributions

Guo XW conceived this study, collected data, performed the analysis and drafted the manuscript. Zhou JY participated in study design, literature search and coordination. Jiang W collected data and performed data analysis. Ji L helped to draft the manuscript. Liu YC participated in study design and helped to performed the analysis. Yin XX participated in study design and helped to draft the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the grant from Suzhou Cancer Clinical Medical Center (Grant No. Szzx201506).