Does Prognostic Nutritional Index Predict Survival in Operated Papilla Vateri Tumors? A Single-centre Experience.

OBJECTIVE To determine the PNI's prognostic effect of prognostic nutritional index (PNI)  on operated papilla vateri tumor (PVT) survival. STUDY DESIGN Descriptive study. PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY Department of Medical Oncology, Ankara City Hospital, Ankara, Turkey, from April 2003 to December 2020. METHODOLOGY One hundred and eighty-two patients diagnosed with PVT were retrospectively screened. One hundred and twenty-six non-metastatic patients, who met the inclusion criteria and underwent curative surgery. PNIs were calculated using preoperative albumin and lymphocyte values and the cut-off value was taken and the two groups were compared in terms of overall survival. RESULTS The median age of the patients included in the study was 61 (36-88) years; 59.5% were males. The cut-off value was obtained using ROC-curves for the preoperative PNI values of 126 patients who underwent curative surgery. Patients were divided into two groups as PNI ≥38 and PNI <38. While median overall survival could not be reached in the group with high PNI, it was 39.3 months in the group with low PNI (p <0.001). In the multivariate cox analysis, PNI elevation was found to be an independent prognostic factor associated with a good prognosis (hazard ratio: 0.18, 95% CI: 0.07-0.48, p <0.001). CONCLUSION In patients with papilla vater tumors, undergoing curative surgery, PNI can play a role as an independent marker in predicting prognosis. Key Words: Prognostic nutritional index, Papilla vater tumor, Prognosis, Survival.