A new score for screening of malnutrition in patients with inoperable gastric adenocarcinoma.
BACKGROUND
Malnutrition is common in patients with gastric cancer. Early identification of malnourished patients results in improving quality of life. We aimed to assess the nutritional status of patients with inoperable gastric adenocarcinoma (IGA) and finding a precise malnutrition screening score for these patients before the onset of chemotherapy.


METHODS
Nutritional status was assessed using patient generated subjective global assessment (PG-SGA), visceral proteins, and high-sensitivity C reactive protein. Tumor markers of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), carbohydrate antigen 125 (CA-125) and CA 19-9 and their association with nutritional status were assessed. Then a new score for malnutrition screening was defined.


RESULTS
Seventy-one patients with IGA completed the study. Malnourished and well-nourished patients (based on PG-SGA) were statistically different regarding albumin, prealbumin and CA-125. The best cut-off value for prealbumin for prediction of malnutrition was determined at 0.20 mg/dl and using known cut-off values for albumin (3.5 g/dl) and CA-125 (35 U/ml), a new score was defined for malnutrition screening named MS-score. According to MS-score, 92% of the patients had malnutrition and it could predict malnutrition with 96.8% sensitivity, 50% specificity and accuracy of 91.4%.


CONCLUSIONS
MS-score has been suggested as an available and easy-to-use tool for malnutrition screening in patients with IGA.
Hematology and Oncology Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz.
Ali
A
Esfahani
Gastroenterology, Liver & Gastrointestinal Diseases Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz.
Mohammad Hossein
MH
Somi
Road Traffic Injury Research Center and Department of Statistics and Epidemiology, Faculty of Health, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz.
Mohammad
M
Asghari Jafarabadi
Nutrition Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz.
Alireza
A
Ostadrahimi
Common Diseases Risk Factors Management Institute, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz.
Mousa
M
Ghayour Nahand
Research Center for Evidence Based Medicine and Faculty of Health, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
Zahra
Z
Fathifar
Nutrition Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz.
Akram
A
Doostzadeh
Nutrition Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz.
Zohreh
Z
Ghoreishi
D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000150:complications* / Q000601:surgery*; D000368:Aged; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007249:Inflammation / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D044342:Malnutrition / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis*; D008403:Mass Screening; D008875:Middle Aged; D015596:Nutrition Assessment; D009752:Nutritional Status; D012372:ROC Curve; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000150:complications* / Q000601:surgery*
D015415:Biomarkers
CA-125; albumin; antigen; nutritional screening; prealbumin; stomach neoplasms