A decrease in the prognostic nutritional index is associated with a worse long-term outcome in gastric cancer patients undergoing neoadjuvant chemotherapy

Purpose The aim of this study was to evaluate the prognostic impact of the prognostic nutritional index (PNI) in gastric cancer patients undergoing neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC). Methods This study reviewed 54 patients with gastric cancer who underwent NAC and a subsequent R0 gastrectomy. The PNI before starting NAC and before gastrectomy were calculated using the following formula: 10 × serum albumin (g/dl) + 0.005 × total lymphocyte count (per mm 3 ). A multivariate analysis was performed to identify the predictors of overall survival (OS). Results The mean pre-NAC and preoperative PNI were 48.3 ± 5.1 and 48.2 ± 4.7, respectively ( p = 0.934). The PNI decreased after NAC in 31 patients (57.4%). The pre-NAC PNI and preoperative PNI were not significantly associated with the OS rate. The 3-year OS rate in patients with the decreased PNI values was significantly lower than that in the patients whose PNI values were either maintained or increased (41 vs. 76.4%, p = 0.003). A multivariate analysis revealed that a decreased PNI value was an independent predictor of a poor OS ( p = 0.006). Conclusions Decreased PNI values were associated with worse long-term outcomes in gastric cancer patients undergoing NAC.