Purpose: Patients with malignancy are more likely to develop nutritional problems. The Geriatric Nutritional Risk Index (GNRI) is a new prognostic index for evaluating nutritional status. The objective of this study was to assess if preoperative GNRI could be a prognostic factor for patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) who underwent radical surgery.
Patients and Methods: This study included 282 consecutive patients with incident pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma who were treated with radical surgery. The Cox regression analysis was performed to calculate the overall survival (OS) and assess the prognostic factors. A nomogram was developed based on the results of the multivariate analysis, and the predictive accuracy of the nomogram was assessed.
Results: Among the 282 patients, there are 117 males and 165 females. The patients had a mean age of 58.7 ± 13.5 years, with the median follow-up time of 72.9 months (interquartile range, 0.7 to 115.2 months). They were classified into abnormal (GNRI ≤ 98) and normal (GNRI > 98) GNRI groups, respectively. Multivariate Cox analysis showed that age (HR = 1.023), drinking history (HR = 1.453), tumor grade (HR = 1.633), TNM stage (HR = 1.921), and GNRI (HR = 1.757) were significantly associated with OS. Based on the above variables, the nomogram was established. The concordance index (C-index) and time-dependent receiver operating characteristics curve (tdROC) showed the nomogram was superior to TNM grade and tumor grade in predicting the OS of patients with PDAC.
Conclusion: GNRI could be a useful prognostic indicator in patients with PDAC who received surgery. Based on the GNRI and the other clinical indicators, we developed a nomogram model that can provide an accurate estimation of OS in patients with PDAC after radical surgery.
Keywords: pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, the geriatric nutritional risk index, overall survival, nomogram