Association between a novel nutrition‐inflammation prognostic grading system and overall survival in hospitalized adults with cancer: A retrospective cohort study

Background Malnutrition and increased systemic inflammatory responses are highly prevalent in patients with cancer and they have a negative effect on prognosis. We aimed to develop a nutrition‐inflammation prognostic grading system (NIPGS) for patients with cancer, which incorporates the Nutritional Risk Screening 2002 (NRS 2002) and C‐reactive protein (CRP) levels. Methods This multicenter retrospective cohort study totally included 6891 patients diagnosed with cancer. A 4 × 4 matrix incorporating the four NRS 2002 categories within each of the four CRP categories was constructed. Groups with approximate hazard ratios (HRs) were clustered into one grade. The NIPGS consists of four grades, with the survival rate gradually decreasing from Grades 1 to 4. The primary outcome was overall survival (OS) and comprehensive survival analyses were performed. Results During a median follow‐up of 18.70 months, 2818 death cases occurred. Kaplan–Meier curve showed the survival rate decreased from Grades 1 to 4 of NIPGS (P