Prognostic value of preoperative geriatric nutritional risk index in intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma after hepatectomy: a single‑center retrospective cohort study

Patients with malignant tumors are prone to develop nutritional disorders. The Geriatric Nutritional Risk Index (GNRI) is a new prognostic indicator for assessing the nutritional status. This study was performed to evaluate whether the preoperative GNRI can serve as a prognostic factor in patients with intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) undergoing curative surgery.

This study included 123 consecutive patients with ICC who were treated with curative surgery. Kaplan–Meier analysis was performed to calculate the recurrence-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS), and Cox regression analysis was used to evaluate prognostic factors.

Of the 123 patients, 82 were male and 41 were female. The median age of the patients was 70 years, and the median follow-up period was 37.0 months (interquartile range, 16.2–71.7 months). The patients were classified by the median GNRI into a low GNRI group (GNRI < 105) and high GNRI group (GNRI ≥ 105). The patients in the low GNRI group had a significantly poorer prognosis in terms of RFS and OS than the patients in the high GNRI group (RFS, p = 0.0201; OS, p < 0.0001). Lymph node metastasis [hazard ratio (HR), 4.66; 95% confidence interval (CI), 2.46–8.85], postoperative complications (HR, 2.38; 95% CI, 1.32–4.31), and a low GNRI (HR, 2.53; 95% CI, 1.42–4.50) were independent poor prognostic factors for OS.

The GNRI may be a useful prognostic indicator in patients with ICC undergoing curative hepatectomy.