title: Clinical utility of the modified Glasgow prognostic score in patients with advanced head and neck cancer.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prognostic potential of the modified Glasgow prognostic score (mGPS), known to reflect the degree of tumor-associated inflammation and cancer cachexia, in patients with advanced head and neck cancer.
  
  
  METHODS
  Patients with advanced head and neck cancer treated at the University of Tsukuba Hospital between January 2002 and December 2011 were retrospectively evaluated. They were categorized by their mGPS.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 210 patients were enrolled in this study. Patients with an mGPS of 0 had better overall survival and disease-free survival than did those with an mGPS of 1 or 2. Multivariate analysis revealed that the mGPS was a significant risk factor for overall survival and disease-free survival.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results suggest that the mGPS is useful for predicting outcome in patients with advanced head and neck cancer and should be included in their routine clinical assessment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan.
authors.forename: Masahiro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nakayama
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan.
authors.forename: Keiji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tabuchi
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan.
authors.forename: Akira
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hara
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000378:metabolism; D002100:Cachexia / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000401:mortality* / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012709:Serum Albumin / Q000378:metabolism; D012720:Severity of Illness Index
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D012709:Serum Albumin; D002097:C-Reactive Protein
keywords: cancer cachexia; head and neck cancer; inflammation; modified Glasgow prognostic score (mGPS); prognostic indicator