The role of the Patient-Generated Subjective Global Assessment (PG-SGA) and biochemical markers in predicting anemia patients with cancer

Methods for diagnosing malnutrition in patients with esophageal cancer, and the association with nutritional and inflammatory indices: A cross‑sectional study

Clinically, it is important to diagnose malnutrition for the treatment and prognosis of cancer patients; however, at present, there are no established standards. The present study evaluated the consistency of malnutrition diagnostic tools in association with relevant nutritional and inflammatory markers in patients with advanced esophageal cancer. Specifically, the Patient-Generated Subjective Global Assessment (PG-SGA) and Global Leadership Initiative on Malnutrition (GLIM) tools were assessed. Patients with a new diagnosis of esophageal cancer at Tengzhou Central People's Hospital (Tengzhou, China) between January 2023 and December 2023 were evaluated within 24 h of admission using Nutritional Risk Screening 2002 (NRS2002), GLIM and PG-SGA. Additionally, relevant physical examinations and laboratory data were collected. The malnutrition occurrence rates based on PG-SGA, GLIM and GLIM with NRS2002 screening (NRS2002-GLIM) were 75.01, 51.88 and 41.25%, respectively. The agreement between PG-SGA and GLIM, and between PG-SGA and NRS2002-GLIM diagnoses was weak (κ=0.379, P<0.001; and κ=0.376, P<0.001, respectively). PG-SGA showed a moderate negative correlation with body mass index (BMI) (rs=-0.460), weak positive correlations with age (rs=0.234) and IL-6 (rs=0.249), and very weak negative correlations with albumin (rs=-0.178) and PNI (rs=-0.168). While the indicators correlated with GLIM and PG-SGA were consistent, the strength of correlation varied slightly. Logistic regression analysis of PG-SGA and GLIM indicated that age and BMI were independent risk factors for malnutrition. In addition, PG-SGA also showed that the neutrophil count was an independent risk factor for malnutrition. Overall, patients with esophageal cancer exhibit a high incidence of malnutrition, and different diagnostic methods provide varying results. Malnutrition is closely associated with age, inflammatory markers and BMI, suggesting their potential utility in guiding nutritional interventions for patients with esophageal cancer.

Relationships of emerging biomarkers of cancer cachexia with quality of life, appetite, and cachexia

PURPOSE

Quality of life (QoL), appetite, cachexia, and biomarkers [albumin, hemoglobin (Hb), neutrophils, lymphocytes, platelets, C-reactive protein (CRP), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα), interleukin 6 (IL-6), interleukin 8 (IL-8), C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 5 (CXCL5) and citrullinated histoneH3 (H3Cit)] were compared for 40 cases with advanced cancer and 40 healthy controls. Baseline differences and significant relationships were explored for biomarkers with QoL, appetite, and cachexia.

METHODS

In a prospective case-control, age and sex matched study, the European Organisation for the Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life-C30 questionnaire (EORTC-QLQ-C30) for QoL, the Functional Assessment of Anorexia and Cachexia Therapy assessment (FAACT A/CS-12) for appetite, and a five-factor cachexia assessment tool for cachexia assessment were performed. Routine hematological measurements and blood chemistry analyses together with ELISA procedures and a Multiplex® bead array platform, were used for biomarker analysis. Descriptive statistics and regression analyses were undertaken. P < 0.05 defined statistical significance.

RESULTS

Global health status (QL-G), functional scales (QL-FS), and symptom scales (QL-SS) differed for cases and controls (p < 0.01). In cases, differences were observed for QL-G (p < 0.01), QL-FS (p < 0.01), and QL-SS (p = 0.01) compared to standardized references values. FAACT A/CS-12 scores differed significantly between cases and controls (p < 0.01) and 30% of cases scored "poor" appetites. Cachexia was present in 60% of cases. Albumin, lymphocytes, platelets, Hb, platelet to lymphocyte ratio (PLR), systemic immune-inflammation index (SII), CRP, TNFα, all at p < 0.01, neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) (p = 0.02), IL-6 (p < 0.04), and IL-8 (p = 0.02) differed significantly between cases and controls. No difference was found for CXCL5 or H3Cit. Albumin NLR, Hb, PLR, SII, TNFα, IL-8, and CRP showed significant relationships with all aspects of QoL. QL-FS was significantly related to CXCL5 (p = 0.04), significant relationships with FAACT A/CS-12 included: NLR (p = 0.002), Hb (p < 0.001), and PLR (p < 0.01). NLR, PLR, SII, TNFα, IL-6, IL-8, and CRP correlated positively to cachexia and albumin while Hb and lymphocyte count correlated negatively to cachexia.

CONCLUSION

CXCL5 and H3Cit were not reliable biomarkers for cancer cachexia, nor significantly related to QoL, appetite or cachexia. Albumin, NLR, Hb, PLR, SII, TNFα, IL-8, and CRP were reliable indicators of QoL, appetite, and cachexia. Future research should include other novel biomarkers namely growth differentiation factor-15 (GDF-15), fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF-21), fractakline, interferon gamma (IFN-y), IL-16, macrophage colony stimulating factor (M-CSF), and macrophage procoagulant-inducing factor (MPIF).

Comparison of GLIM and PG-SGA for predicting clinical outcomes of patients with esophageal squamous carcinoma resection

OBJECTIVE

to determine the validity of the Global Leadership Initiative on Malnutrition (GLIM) against the Patient Generated-Subjective Global Assessment (PG-SGA) as a gold standard tool in malnutrition diagnosis, and to assess the impact of malnutrition diagnosed using GLIM and PG-SGA on the clinical outcomes of patients with esophageal squamous carcinoma (ESCC) resection.

METHODS

we prospectively analyzed 182 patients with ESCC who underwent radical esophagectomy. Preoperative malnutrition was diagnosed using GLIM and PG-SGA, and the postoperative clinical outcomes, including postoperative complications, postoperative chest tube indwelling time, length of stay and total hospitalization cost, were recorded. The association between the prevalence of malnutrition defined by the two tools and postoperative clinical outcomes was evaluated.

RESULTS

among the 182 ESCC patients, the incidence of malnutrition before surgery was 58.2 % and 48.4 % defined by PG-SGA and GLIM, respectively. GLIM and PG-SGA had good consistency in nutritional assessment of ESCC patients (k = 0.628, p < 0.001). Malnourished patients had higher TNM stages and older ages (all p < 0.05). Patients with malnutrition as assessed by PG-SGA and GLIM had a higher incidence of postoperative complications, a longer indwelling time of chest tube after esophagectomy, longer hospital length of stay, and higher hospitalization costs than patients with good nutrition (p < 0.001). Comparing the predictive efficiency of postoperative complications, the sensitivity of PG-SGA- and GLIM-defined malnutrition were 81.6 % and 79.6 %, the specificity were 50.4 % and 63.2 %, the Youden index were 0.320 and 0.428, and the Kappa value were 0.110 and 0.130, respectively. The areas under ROC curve of PG-SGA- and GLIM-defined malnutrition and postoperative complications were 0.660 and 0.714, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

this study indicates the effectiveness of malnutrition diagnosed according to GLIM and PG-SGA in predicting postoperative clinical outcomes among patients with ESCC. Compared with PG-SGA, GLIM criteria can better predict postoperative complications of ESCC. Follow-up analysis of postoperative long-term survival is needed to explore the association between different assessment tools and postoperative long-term clinical outcomes.

Prediction of Long-Term Recovery From Disability Using Hemoglobin-Based Models: Results From a Cohort of 1,392 Patients Undergoing Spine Surgery

Hemoglobin and its associated blood values are important laboratory biomarkers that mirror the strength of constitution of patients undergoing spine surgery. Along with the clinical determinants available during the preadmission visit, it is important to explore their potential for predicting clinical success from the patient's perspective in order to make the pre-admission visit more patient-centered. We analyzed data from 1,392 patients with spine deformity, disc disease, or spondylolisthesis enrolled between 2016 and 2019 in our institutional Spine Registry. Patient-reported outcome measure at 17 months after surgery was referred to the Oswestry disability index. High preoperative hemoglobin was found to be the strongest biochemical determinant of clinical success along with high red blood cells count, while low baseline disability, prolonged hospitalization, and long surgical times were associated with poor recovery. The neural network model of these predictors showed a fair diagnostic performance, having an area under the curve of 0.726 and a sensitivity of 86.79%. However, the specificity of the model was 15.15%, thus providing to be unreliable in forecasting poor patient-reported outcomes. In conclusion, preoperative hemoglobin may be one of the key biomarkers on which to build appropriate predictive models of long-term recovery after spine surgery, but it is necessary to include multidimensional variables in the models to increase the reliability at the patient's level.

Efficacy of Cereal-based Oral Nutrition Supplement on Nutritional Status, Inflammatory Cytokine Secretion and Quality of Life in Cancer Patients Under Cancer Therapy

A rapid increase in cancer incidence accompanied by aging population requires evidence-based supportive cancer care practices. Cancer therapies often accompany adverse events which induce malnutrition and declined quality of life. We conducted an 8-week non-randomized clinical trial to evaluate efficacy of cereal-based oral nutritional supplement (ONS) intervention on nutritional status, quality of life and inflammatory responses in cancer patients undergoing cancer therapy with 5% < weight loss. The study included 34 pateints (24 in control group, 10 in intervention group) with 15 drop-outs. ONS used in this intervention contained 0.5% arabinoxylan-rich fermented rice bran powder and 5.5% black rice powder as active ingredients in a regular cereal-based formula. Results showed that ONS intervention for 8 weeks did not show significant improvement in blood biomarkers of nutritional status or patient-generated subjective global assessment scores. However, 8-week of intervention showed reduced interleukin (IL)-6 and IL-1β secretion in lipopolysaccharide-stimulated peripheral blood mononuclear cells while IL-12p70 level was increased. For health-related quality of life (HRQoL) indices, emotional functioning and fatigue symptoms were improved after 4 weeks only in the intervention group although no difference was found at week 8. These results suggest that ONS intervention may improve chronic inflammatory status and HRQoL indices (at week 4) in cancer patients receiving treatments.