The Controlling Nutritional Status (CONUT) Score Predicts Post-operatory Risks and Prognosis in Patients With Surgically Treated Colon Cancer: A Retrospective Study

The Controlling Nutritional status (CONUT) score, a valuable tool evaluating the preoperative conditions of patients from a nutritional point of view, has been successfully adopted for a plethora of malignancies including colorectal cancer (CRC). However, since rectal cancer has characteristics that differ from colon cancer (CC) and because, as of 2024, investigations targeted to surgical CC patients are lacking in the pertinent literature, we decided to assess the predictive role of this scoring system in relation to postoperative course and survival of surgical patients affected only by this malignancy. However, as of 2024, the existing literature on CONUT has typically treated colorectal cancer (CRC) as a single homogeneous entity, often combining results for both colon cancer (CC) and rectal cancer (RC). Since CC differs from RC in pathobiology, prognosis and treatment, we preferred to investigate CONUT in patients affected with CC in order to corroborate or refute the current knowledge on this score system when applied to CRC. With this stated aim, we proceeded to assess the predictive role of CONUT in relation to postoperative course and prognosis of patients who underwent CC surgery only.