Nutritional predictors of survival in terminally ill cancer patients.
OBJECTIVE
Malnutrition can affect the prognosis of terminally ill patients, but over-treatment of malnutrition can worsen patients' quality of life. Decisions on nutrition and the supply of fluids to terminally ill patients are complex, and the identification of useful clinical indicators is needed. This study evaluated the relationships between various nutritional indices and survival of terminally ill cancer patients.


METHODS
We recruited terminally ill patients from a teaching hospital between February 2000 and January 2001. All of the 145 candidates were cancer patients, 109 (75%) of whom agreed to participate. Nutritional assessments including physical examination, anthropometric measurements, and biochemical profiles were performed on admission.


RESULTS
Univariate analyses showed that triceps skin-fold thickness (TSF) and midarm muscle circumference were significant predictors of survival. Poor survival was associated with prealbumin </= 100 mg/L (hazard ratio [HR], 1.5; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.1 to 2.3; p = 0.03), asparate transaminase (AST) > 45 U/L (HR, 1.6; 95% CI, 1.1 to 2.3; p = 0.03), alkaline phosphatase > 120 U/L (HR, 1.6; 95% CI, 1.1 to 2.5; p = 0.02), creatinine > 1.4 mg/dL (HR, 1.9; 95% CI, 1.2 to 3.2; p = 0.01), and blood urea nitrogen (BUN) > 20 mg/dL (HR, 1.9; 95% CI, 1.3 to 2.8; p < 0.01) at admission. Multivariate analyses found that TSF < 25% of the nomogram (HR, 2.9; 95% CI, 1.6 to 5.3; p < 0.01), prealbumin </= 100 mg/L (HR, 2.2; 95% CI, 1.4 to 3.5; p < 0.01), AST > 45 U/L (HR, 2.0; 95% CI, 1.3 to 3.2; p = 0.01), and BUN > 20 mg/dL (HR, 2.8; 95% CI, 1.7 to 4.5; p < 0.01) were independent predictors of poor survival.


CONCLUSIONS
This study found that nutritional status was associated with the survival of terminally ill cancer patients. Both TSF and prealbumin appeared to be useful predictors that may help set strategies to improve palliative care. Because predictors of survival are not necessarily factors that actually influence survival, further studies should be conducted to evaluate the usefulness of these prognostic indicators in clinical practice.
Department of Radiation Oncology, Sin-Lau Christian Hospital, Tainan, Taiwan.
Sheng-Yow
SY
Ho
How-Ran
HR
Guo
Helen H W
HH
Chen
Cheau-Jane
CJ
Peng
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001219:Aspartate Aminotransferases / Q000097:blood; D001806:Blood Urea Nitrogen; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D009752:Nutritional Status / Q000502:physiology*; D011228:Prealbumin / Q000032:analysis; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012885:Skinfold Thickness; D016019:Survival Analysis; D019452:Terminally Ill
D011228:Prealbumin; D001219:Aspartate Aminotransferases