A controlling nutritional status score is an independent predictor for patients with newly diagnosed nasal‐type extranodal NK/T‐cell lymphoma based on asparaginase‐containing regimens

Abstract

Background The controlling nutritional status (CONUT) score is a nutritional index that combines serum albumin, total cholesterol, and lymphocyte counts. The potential value of CONUT score for predicting clinical outcomes in patients with nasal‐type extranodal NK/T‐cell lymphoma (ENKTL) has not been explored. Methods This study included 374 ENKTL patients treated with asparaginase‐containing regimens from September 2012 to September 2017. Clinical characteristics, treatment efficacy, prognostic factors, and the predictive value of CONUT score were analyzed. Results The complete response (CR) and overall response rate (ORR) were 54.8% and 74.6%, respectively. Patients with CONUT scores <2 had higher CR and ORR compared to patients with scores ≥2 (69.1% vs. 48.9% for CR, p = 0.001; 90.0% vs. 74.6% for ORR, p < 0.001). The 5‐year overall survival (OS) and progression‐free survival (PFS) rates were 61.9% and 57.3%, respectively. Patients with CONUT scores <2 had better survival outcomes than those with scores ≥2 (5‐year OS, 76.1% vs. 56.0%, p < 0.001; 5‐year PFS, 74.4% vs. 50.1%, p < 0.001). CONUT score ≥2 was identified as an independent poor prognostic factor for both OS and PFS. A CONUT score ≥2 was also associated with poorer survival outcomes in low‐risk ENKTL patients. Conclusion A CONUT score ≥2 is a prognostic marker for poor survival in patients with ENKTL and could be used to stratify risk in low‐risk patients.

Prognostic and clinicopathological significance of the Controlling Nutritional Status (CONUT) score in patients with lymphoma: a meta-analysis

“…The publication years of these articles ranged from 2020 to 2023. Three studies were carried out in Japan,22 23 27 two in China26 28 and two in Turkey 24 25. The enrolled articles all used the English language and were of retrospective design,22–28 with sample sizes between 81 and 615 patients (median: 266).…”

“…Three studies were carried out in Japan,22 23 27 two in China26 28 and two in Turkey 24 25. The enrolled articles all used the English language and were of retrospective design,22–28 with sample sizes between 81 and 615 patients (median: 266). Five were single-centre studies23–26 28 and two were multicentre trials 22 27.…”

“…The enrolled articles all used the English language and were of retrospective design,22–28 with sample sizes between 81 and 615 patients (median: 266). Five were single-centre studies23–26 28 and two were multicentre trials 22 27. Four studies enrolled patients with diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL),22–25 whereas the remaining three included extranodal NK/T cell lymphoma,28 peripheral T cell lymphoma27 and lymphoma cases 26.…”

“…Five were single-centre studies23–26 28 and two were multicentre trials 22 27. Four studies enrolled patients with diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL),22–25 whereas the remaining three included extranodal NK/T cell lymphoma,28 peripheral T cell lymphoma27 and lymphoma cases 26. Three studies adopted a CONUT cut-off value of ≥5,22 25 27 two used a cut-off of ≥224 28 and the two remaining each chose a cut-off of ≥423 and ≥7 26.…”

“…Additionally, CONUT is a significant prognostic factor in various types of cancer, such as breast cancer,16 hepatocellular carcinoma,17 urothelial carcinoma,18 colorectal cancer,19 hypopharyngeal cancer20 and prostate cancer 21. The legitimacy of using CONUT scores while predicting the prognosis of lymphoma cases has been widely investigated but no consistent results can be obtained 22–28. For instance, higher CONUT scores (usually ≥5) were reported to significantly predict the prognosis of lymphoma cases in some studies, whereas other scholars did not show a significant relationship between lymphoma prognosis and use of CONUT scores 23.…”