In this large single institutional study with ten-year follow-up, we demonstrated that the preoperative PNI was associated with clinical characteristics and treatment outcomes. A low PNI level was correlated with impaired OS in Chinese patients with HGSC.
The immunological and nutritional condition could undoubtedly influence patient outcomes, and various relative markers have been established [16,17,18,19,20,21,22]. Among these markers, the PNI could reflect both the nutritional and immunological statuses of the host and has been validated as an indicator for treatment outcomes in various malignancies [4,5,6,7,8,9].
The data on ovarian cancer are quite limited. Miao et al. [10] reported that the PNI could help predict the platinum resistance of ovarian cancer (AUC = 0.688), and in their cohort, the PNI was also an independent prognostic factor for PFS and OS. Zhang et al. [11] further compared several inflammation- and nutrition-related factors and found that the PNI was superior to C-reactive protein/albumin ratio (CAR), modified Glasgow prognostic score (mGPS), and lymphocyte/monocyte ratio (LMR).
These findings are consistent with previously published data. We observed that low PNI levels were associated with an advanced FIGO stage, an increased CA125 level and more extensive ascites. Thus, higher tumor burden could likely lead to malnutrition and immune suppression, potentially reflected by a low PNI level. Thus, the PNI could reflect tumor burden and was undoubtedly correlated with debulking outcomes for ovarian cancer patients.
In addition, the chemotherapeutic response could be influenced by residual tumor, patient tolerability, and host defense against cancer. Consistent with Miao et al. [10], we propose that a greater proportion of the patients in the high PNI group were platinum sensitive compared with those in the low PNI group. Therefore, the comprehensive nutritional and immune indicator could help predict ovarian cancer patient platinum sensitivity.
Furthermore, both Miao et al. [10] and Zhang et al. [11] reported that the PNI was an independent prognostic factor. However, in the present cohort, the PNI was also an independent predictor for OS as a continuous variable but not as dichotomized groups. The underlying reason was that the definitive normal range of the PNI has not been determined, and the border value to dichotomize the study population into high and low PNI groups is difficult to determine. An epidemiological survey is required for the generation of a normal range.
A notable limitation is that the present study was a retrospective study with potential recall bias. However, the completeness of clinical data, up to 10-year follow-up duration and the large sample size could partly compensate for this limitation. Notwithstanding its limitation, this study was a single institutional retrospective study involving a group of homogeneous patients with the same histology who underwent similar treatment strategies, and the PNI is available in routine blood tests and can be popularized in clinical application.