Geriatric nutritional risk index as an independent prognostic factor in locally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma treated using radical concurrent chemoradiotherapy: a retrospective cohort study

Abstract

Background Nutritional status is a key factor influencing the prognosis of patients with cancer. The Geriatric Nutritional Risk Index (GNRI) has been used to predict mortality risk and long-term outcomes. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the predictive value of pretreatment GNRI in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Methods A total of 1,065 patients with biopsy-proven non-disseminated nasopharyngeal carcinoma were included. Based on a cutoff value of pretreatment GNRI, patients were divided into two groups (low ≤107.7 and high >107.7). Combining GNRI and baseline Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) DNA, all patients were further stratified into three risk groups, namely, high-risk (high EBV DNA and low GNRI), low-risk (low EBV DNA and high GNRI), and medium-risk (except the above) groups. Multivariate analyses were performed using the Cox proportional hazards model to assess the predictive value of the GNRI. Results Among the 1,065 patients, 527 (49.5%) and 538 (50.5%) were divided into low and high GNRI groups, respectively. Within a median follow-up of 83 months, patients with a high GNRI score exhibited significantly higher overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), and distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS) compared to those with low GNRI scores (P<0.05). Multivariate analyses revealed that high GNRI is an independent prognostic factor for OS and PFS (hazard ratio, HR, 0.471, 95% CI, 0.270-0.822, P=0.008; HR 0.638, 95% CI, 0.433-0.941, P=0.023, respectively). Using a combination of baseline GNRI and EBV DNA, a satisfying separation of survival curves between different risk groups for OS, PFS, DMFS was observed. The survival rates of patients in the high-risk group were significantly lower than those in the low- and medium-risk groups (all P<0.001). The combined classification was demonstrated to be an independent prognostic factor for OS and PFS after adjustment using multivariate analysis. Conclusions Pretreatment GNRI is an independent prognostic factor for NPC patients. The combination of baseline GNRI score and EBV DNA level improved the prognostic stratification of NPC patients.