Nutritional indicators have been implicated in the survival outcomes of various malignant tumors. However, there are few studies on the association between nutritional indicators and immunotherapy for esophageal cancer. The present study aimed to explore the value of nutritional indicators with regard to the survival outcomes in patients with metastatic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) treated with camrelizumab. A retrospective cohort analysis of 158 metastatic ESCC patients treated with camrelizumab in The Affiliated Xinghua People's Hospital, Medical School of Yangzhou University (Xinghua, China) between September 2019 and July 2022 was conducted. A receiver operating characteristic curve was used to determine the optimal cut-off values of prognostic nutritional index (PNI) and albumin (ALB). The cut-off value for body mass index (BMI) was set at the normal lower limit (18.5 kg/m2). Progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were evaluated using the Kaplan-Meier method, and the differences in PFS or OS between groups were compared using the log-rank test. The prognostic value of each variable was analyzed based on the univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression models. The optimal cutoff values of PNI, ALB and BMI were 41.35, 36.8 g/l and 18.5 kg/m2, respectively. Lower PNI, ALB and BMI were closely associated with shorter PFS [hazard ratio (HR) for PNI, 3.599; P<0.001; HR for ALB, 4.148; P<0.001; HR for BMI, 5.623; P<0.001) and OS (HR for PNI, 7.605; P<0.001; HR for ALB, 7.852; P<0.001; HR for BMI, 7.915; P<0.001) times. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses indicated that lower PNI, ALB and BMI were independent risk factors of PFS and OS in patients with metastatic ESCC receiving camrelizumab treatment. In conclusion, PNI, ALB and BMI are promising predictive indicators to assess the survival outcomes in patients with metastatic ESCC treated with camrelizumab. Moreover, PNI, ALB and BMI may have prognostic significance in these patients.
Keywords: biomarkers; esophageal squamous cell carcinoma; immunotherapy; prognostic nutritional index; prognostic predictors.
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