The prognostic nutritional index as a predictor of long-term outcome in patients with resected esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

Background Preoperative nutritional and inflammation indexes have been shown to be associated with postoperative complications and the prognosis of patients with a malignant tumor. We evaluated several clinicopathological prognostic factors in patients with resected esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). Methods Seventy-eight patients who underwent curative resection for ESCC were included in this retrospective study. The associations of body mass index (BMI), the prognostic nutritional index (PNI), neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), and protein-albumin ratio (CAR) with various clinicopathological factors were evaluated. Results In multivariate analyses, only low PNI (<46.8) independently and significantly predicted overall survival (OS) (P=0.002). Conclusions The PNI is a simple, useful marker for predicting the long-term prognosis of patients with ESCC after esophagectomy. The PNI should be included in the routine assessment of patients with ESCC.