The Controlling Nutritional Status (CONUT) Score as a prognostic factor for obstructive colorectal cancer patients received stenting as a bridge to curative surgery.

Abstract

The Controlling Nutritional Status (CONUT) Score, originally developed as a nutritional screening tool, is a cumulative score calculated from the serum albumin level, total cholesterol level, and total lymphocyte count. Previous studies have demonstrated that the score has significant prognostic value in various malignancies. We investigated the relationship between the CONUT score and long-term survival in obstructive colorectal cancer (OCRC) patients who underwent self-expandable metallic colonic stent placement and subsequently received curative surgery. We retrospectively analyzed 57 pathological stage II and III OCRC patients between 2013 and 2019. The associations between the preoperative CONUT score and clinicopathological factors and patient survival were evaluated. A receiver operating characteristic curve analysis revealed that the optimal cut-off value for the CONUT score was 7. A CONUT score of ≥ 7 was significantly associated with elevated CA19-9 level (p = 0.03). Multivariate analyses revealed that a CONUT score of ≥ 7 was independently associated with cancer-specific survival (hazard ratio [HR] = 10.2, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.2-85.9, p = 0.03) and disease-free survival (HR = 7.1, 95% CI 2.3-21.7, p = 0.0006). The results demonstrated that the CONUT score was a potent prognostic indicator. Evaluating the CONUT score might result in more precise patient assessment and tailored treatment.