Immuno-Nutritional Profiling for Survival Stratification in Gastrectomized Patients with Malignant Chronic Intestinal Failure.

Background/

Objectives

Patients who undergo gastrectomy for gastric adenocarcinoma and subsequently develop chronic intestinal failure requiring long-term home parenteral nutrition (HPN) represent a clinically vulnerable cohort in whom survival is shaped by profound nutritional depletion and systemic inflammation. Immuno-nutritional biomarkers may support improved risk stratification in this setting.

Methods

This retrospective study included adults who underwent gastrectomy for gastric cancer and developed malignant chronic intestinal failure requiring HPN. Immuno-nutritional status at HPN qualification was evaluated using the Controlling Nutritional Status (CONUT) score and the lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio (LMR). Overall survival was analysed using Cox proportional hazards models. LMR discrimination was assessed using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis with a Youden-derived cut-off, and differences in AUC were tested using DeLong's method.

Results

Ninety-seven patients met the inclusion criteria. Median overall survival was 176 days. In multivariable analysis, CONUT and LMR were the only independent predictors of survival. Each one-point increase in CONUT was associated with an approximately 70% increase in mortality risk. LMR demonstrated good discriminative ability (AUC 0.795), and a cut-off of 2.083 differentiated survival trajectories. The combined CONUT-LMR model improved prognostic classification, and DeLong's test confirmed a significant AUC difference compared with single-marker models. Kaplan-Meier curves showed clear separation across CONUT and LMR strata (log-rank p < 0.001).

Conclusions

Among patients requiring long-term HPN after gastrectomy for gastric cancer, CONUT and LMR provide complementary prognostic information. Their combined use enhances survival stratification and may support earlier identification of patients with high-risk trajectories.