The prognostic role of nutrition risk score (NRS) in patients with metastatic or recurrent esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC).

The purpose of this study was to elucidate the prognostic value of nutritional risk score (NRS) in patients with metastatic or recurrent ESCC. A total of 187 patients who undergoing S1 based or paclitaxel based salvage chemotherapy were enrolled in this retrospective study. Nutritional status was evaluated by NRS. The relationship between NRS and clinicopathological variables and post-treatment outcomes were assessed by univariate and multivariate analysis. NRS was significantly associated with weight loss (P<0.001), BMI (P<0.001), chemotherapy regimens (P=0.038) and treatment response (P=0.013). The Kaplan-Meier survival curves indicated that patients with NRS ≥ 3 had worse overall survival (OS) compared to patients with NRS < 3 (P<0.001). Multivariable regression revealed that weight loss, NRS and treatment response were three prognostic factors (P<0.05). These results suggest that NRS is a promising indicator of poor prognosis in patients with metastatic or recurrent ESCC who received S1 based or paclitaxel based salvage chemotherapy.