Abstract
BACKGROUND: The advanced lung cancer inflammation index (ALI), which comprehensively evaluates the patient body composition and inflammation/nutritional status, is reportedly associated with the patient outcome in lung cancer. However, the clinical significance in colorectal cancer (CRC) patients after curative resection remains unclear. METHODS: A total of 813 CRC patients after curative resection between April 2005 and June 2019 in a single institution were retrospectively enrolled. The association of the preoperative ALI (calculated as follows: body mass index × albumin value/neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio) with clinicopathological factors, postoperative complications, and survival was analyzed. RESULTS: A low ALI was significantly associated with male gender, older age, a higher depth of tumor invasion, progressed TNM stage, and preoperative carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) positivity. Both postoperative complications and severe complications occurred more frequently in the ALI-low group than in the ALI-high group (P < .001 and P < .001, respectively), especially postoperative complications in stage III patients (P < .001) and severe complications in stages II and III patients (P = .024 and P = .004, respectively). In addition, a low ALI was an independent predictor of a poor overall survival (hazard ratio: 2.30, 95% confidence interval: 1.52-3.50, P < .001) and relapse-free survival (hazard ratio: 1.73, 95% confidence interval: 1.22-2.44, P = .002), especially in older patients, and in patients without lymph node metastasis or severe postoperative complications. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that preoperative ALI may serve as a novel independent predictive index for severe postoperative complications and recurrence in CRC patients after curative resection.