Significance of modified Glasgow prognostic score as a useful indicator for prognosis of patients with gastric carcinoma

BACKGROUND: The significance of the Glasgow prognostic score (GPS), an inflammation-based prognostic score, as an indicator of aggressiveness in gastric carcinoma has not been investigated fully. METHODS: Two hundred thirty-two patients with gastric carcinoma were enrolled. Patients who had both an elevated C-reactive protein (>1.0 mg/dL) and hypoalbuminemia (<3.5 g/dL) were allocated a traditional GPS (TOPS) of 2. Patients who had one of these abnormal values were allocated a TGPS of 1, and patients who had neither were allocated a TOPS of 0. RESULTS: There existed a significant difference between the survival of adjacent groups of patients when examined using the TOPS (P = .05 for TOPS 0 vs 1 and P = .006 for TOPS 1 vs 2). Multivariate analysis based on TOPS demonstrated that TOPS (P = .020) and tumor stage (P = .0007) proved to be independent prognostic indicators for worse prognosis. CONCLUSIONS: The preoperative measurement of an inflammation-based prognostic score can demonstrate a strict stratification for the prognosis of patients with gastric carcinoma. (C) 2011 Published by Elsevier Inc.