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Nutritional status, acute phase response and depression in metastatic lung cancer patients: correlations and association prognosis

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Abstract

Background and aim

Cancer cachexia is a metabolic syndrome related with poor outcome. Cytokines play a key role in the pathophysiology of that syndrome. The aim of this study was to investigate the potential correlations between nutritional status, systemic inflammation, and psychological distress in cancer patients. The prognostic significance of the recorded parameters was also assessed.

Patients and methods

Patients with metastatic lung cancer were eligible. Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA) was used for the evaluation of nutritional status, Glasgow Prognostic Score (GPS) for the estimation of systemic inflammation, and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) for psychological assessment.

Results

Totally, 122 patients were enrolled (71.3% with NSCLC and 28.7% with SCLC). The following correlations were observed: MNA and GPS (r = 0.289, p = 0.001), MNA and HADS (depression scale) (r = 0.275, p = 0.002), GPS and HADS (depression scale) (r = 0.256, p = 0.004), and GPS and HADS (anxiety scale) (r = 0.194, p = 0.033). In univariate analysis, GPS (p = 0.002) and MNA (p = 0.010) emerged as significant predictors of survival. In multivariate analysis, both MNA (p = 0.032) and GPS (p = 0.020) retained their importance.

Conclusions

This study highlights the associations between nutritional status, systemic inflammation, and psychological distress, supporting their common underlying pathophysiological mechanisms and further suggesting the necessity of a holistic anti-cachectic approach.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medical Oncology, University General Hospital of Heraklion, Stavrakia and Voutes, Heraklion, 71110, Crete, Greece

    Zoe Giannousi, Athanasios G. Pallis, Alexandros Xyrafas, Kostas Kalbakis, Dimitris Mavroudis & Vassilis Georgoulias

  2. Department of Medical Oncology, University Hospital of Larissa, Larissa, Thessaly, Greece

    Ioannis Gioulbasanis, Danai Dalliani, Vassilis Papadopoulos & Christos N. Papandreou

Authors
  1. Zoe Giannousi
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  2. Ioannis Gioulbasanis
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  3. Athanasios G. Pallis
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  4. Alexandros Xyrafas
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  9. Vassilis Georgoulias
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  10. Christos N. Papandreou
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Correspondence to Zoe Giannousi.

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Giannousi, Z., Gioulbasanis, I., Pallis, A.G. et al. Nutritional status, acute phase response and depression in metastatic lung cancer patients: correlations and association prognosis. Support Care Cancer 20, 1823–1829 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-011-1282-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-011-1282-x

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