Prognostic Significance of Inflammatory and Nutritional Parameters in Patients with Esophageal Cancer

Abstract We evaluated the following preoperative prognostic factors in patients who underwent esophagectomy for esophageal cancer: C-Reactive protein (CRP), neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), serum albumin, prognostic nutritional index (PNI), and body mass index (BMI). This retrospective study included 173 men and 19 women with a mean age of 65.8 years (range=42-86 years) who were scheduled to undergo esophagectomy for esophageal cancer. The association of CRP, NLR, albumin, PNI, and BMI with various clinicopathological factors and prognosis were evaluated. Univariate analysis revealed that male sex, depth of invasion, nodal metastasis, pStage, high CRP, low PNI, high NLR, and low BMI were significant risk factors for a poor prognosis. Multivariate analysis identified depth of invasion, pStage, and BMI as significant prognostic factors in the Cox proportional hazard model. The preoperative nutritional status affected the postoperative survival time in patients with esophageal cancer. In particular, a low BMI was an independent prognostic factor for poorer survival in the multivariate analysis.