Accurate estimation of life expectancy in
terminally ill patients with cancer is important from both the clinician’s and
the patient’s perspectives. However, studies have
revealed that clinicians do not accurately estimate the time to death, making
it difficult for the patients and their families to prepare themselves. Although several indices and scores exist for evaluating the life
expectancy, most of these include subjective components in the calculation,
such as the presence of edema, anorexia, or delirium, which makes the objective
assessment prone to inaccuracy.
In this paper, the authors
aimed to evaluate the value of the Prognostic Nutritional Index (PNI) for
accurately estimating the life expectancy of patients with end-stage oral
cancer. A longitudinal section study was performed after obtaining ethical
approval and in-formed consent. Fifteen patients (12 men; mean age: 71.7 years
old) who died of oral cancer between 2005 and 2014 (the terminal group) were
included. The mean PNI values at the initial visit and at 3, 2, and 1 months
before the deaths were comparatively analyzed. The following data were
collected from the patient medical records: sex, age, site of primary tumor,
C-reactive protein (CRP) levels, serum albumin levels, and peripheral
lymphocyte count measured at the initial visit and at various time points
during the follow-up period.
The results
indicated that the mean follow-up period was 133 days. At the initial
examination, the PNI values were 49.1 ± 4.5 (p = 0.6723). The PNI value of the
terminal group was 35.6 ± 5.1 at 2 months before death and 28.6 ± 3.0 at 1
month before death. The PNI values at 3, 2, and 1 months before death in the
terminal group significantly differed from each other and from that at the
initial visit and steadily decreased until death.
In conclusion, the
findings suggest the utility of PNI as a prognostic index in patients with end-stage
oral cancer patients. Considering the particular importance of appropriate
nutritional management in these patients at the end stage of the disease, more
research is necessary to investigate how the PNI value can be used in these
patients to improve the quality of life near death.
Article by Atsushi
Abe, et al, from Japan.
Full access: http://t.cn/E4x2GUV
Image by Ka-Ron Wade, from Flickr-cc.
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