Modified Controlling Nutritional Status (mCONUT) serves as a promising prognostic factor in patients with cancer cachexia

Background: Malnutrition and systemic inflammation are considered 2 hallmarks of cancer cachexia. Our study aimed to construct a modified Controlling Nutritional Status by introducing C-reactive protein as an inflammatory parameter and investigate its prognostic value in patients with cancer cachexia.Methods: This multicenter cohort study included 5221 patients with cancer, among whom 1719 were diagnosed with cachexia. Concordance index and receiver operating characteristic curves were used to compare prognostic values between the 2 systems. The primary outcome was overall survival, and comprehensive survival analyses were performed. The secondary outcomes were short-term survival, malnutrition, and quality of life.Results: During the median follow-up of 17.47 mo, 813 deaths were recorded. The modified Controlling Nutritional Status was more accurate than Controlling Nutritional Status in predicting survival in patients with cancer cachexia. Patients in the high Controlling Nutritional Status/modified Controlling Nutritional Status group had a significantly shorter overall survival. Multivariate Cox analysis confirmed high Controlling Nutritional Status (hazard ratio = 1.34, 95% CI, 1.13-1.58; P < 0.001) and modified Controlling Nutritional Status (hazard ratio = 1.46; 95% CI, 1.26-1.69; P < 0.001) were independent risk factors for survival, adjust-ing for confounders. In subgroup analyses, a high modified Controlling Nutritional Status score had a signifi-cantly negative effect on survival in cachexia patients with upper gastrointestinal and colorectal cancer, especially for advanced-stage (stages III and IV) patients. The risk of short-term mortality and experiencing malnutrition rose to 1.48 and 1.13 times, respectively, in the high modified Controlling Nutritional Status group, as well as that for poorer life quality.Conclusion: The modified Controlling Nutritional Status group comprehensively reflects nutritional, immune, and inflammatory status and serves as a powerful prognostic scoring system in patients with cancer cachexia. (c) 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

The study found that the modified Controlling Nutritional Status system, which includes C-reactive protein as an inflammatory parameter, is more accurate than the traditional system in predicting the survival of patients with cancer cachexia. High Controlling Nutritional Status and modified Controlling Nutritional Status are both independent risk factors for survival and have a negative impact on survival in patients with advanced-stage cancers, such as esophagogastric and colorectal cancer.