Clinical application value of prognostic nutritional index for predicting survival in patients with advanced colorectal cancer

Objective To explore the clinical application value of prognostic nutritional index (PNI) for predicting overall survival (OS) in patients with advanced colorectal cancer. Methods Seventy-two patients with histologically confirmed colorectal cancer were enrolled in this study, and their clinical and laboratory data were reviewed. The PNI was calculated, and univariate and multivariate analysis was used to identify the potential prognostic factors for advanced colorectal cancer. Results PNI of the 72 colorectal cancer patients was 45.07 ± 5.98. PNI was significantly associated with age, weight loss and pleural effusion (P 0.05). The median OS of the 72 patients was 12.9 months. The medium OS in the higher PNI group (PNI ≥ 45.07) and lower PNI group (PNI ≤ 45.07) was 15.7 months and 11.2 months, respectively. The 1-year survival rates were 78.4% and 60.5%, and 2-year survival rates were 53.1% and 20.8%, respectively (P < 0.01). Univariate analysis showed that PNI, ages, and weight loss were related to the OS of the advanced colorectal cancer (P < 0.05). Multivariate analysis identified PNI was an independent prognostic factor for OS of advanced colorectal cancer (P < 0.01). Conclusions PNI can be easily calculated, and may be used as a relatively new prognostic indicator for advanced colorectal cancer in clinical practice. Key words: Advanced stage, colorectal cancer; Prognostic nutrition index; Prognosis