The value of inflammation based prognostic scores in patients undergoing surgical resection for oesophageal and gastric carcinoma.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Surgical interventions for oesophagogastric cancer carry a significant burden of morbidity and mortality. A range of inflammation based prognostic scores have been proposed in an attempt to predict outcome. This study evaluated five such prognostic scores in oesophageal and gastric carcinoma patients.

METHODS: The modified Glasgow Prognostic Score (mGPS), Neutrophil Lymphocyte Ratio (NLR), Platelet Lymphocyte Ratio (PLR), Prognostic Index (PI), and Prognostic Nutrition Index (PNI) were calculated for 723 consecutive patients undergoing oesophagectomy or gastrectomy at a single center. The predictive accuracy of each score was assessed using ROC curves and survival analyses.

RESULTS: Overall, only PLR and PNI were significantly predictive of patient survival (both P < 0.001), with no significant association detected for mGPS (P = 0.480), NLR (P = 0.210), or PI (P = 0.808). Subgroup analysis found the predictive accuracy of PNI to be significantly greater in oesophagectomy than gastrectomy patients (hazard ratio 2.75 vs 1.39, P = 0.016) and mGPS to be predictive of patient survival only in oesophagectomies (P < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS: Inflammation based prognostic scores may have a role in patients undergoing resection for oesophageal and gastric cancer. These scores are easily calculable from routinely collected data and could be used as an adjunct to existing staging modalities.