Association of venous thromboembolism risk with prognostic nutritional index and other nutritional parameters in cancer patients

Objective: Cancer patients are at increased risk of VTE and malnutrition. This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between VTE risk levels and PNI, along with other nutritional parameters, in outpatient cancer patients. Method: The relationship between PNI and other nutritional parameters and the VTE risk level was evaluated in 300 patients receiving chemotherapy at the Chemotherapy Unit of Akdeniz University Department of Medical Oncology between March 2023 and June 2023. PNI was calculated using the formula: (Serum albumin level (g/dl) × 10) + (Total lymphocyte count (mm³) × 0.005) based on routine laboratory data. VTE risk was assessed using the Khorana Risk Score. Student T test and One Way ANOVA test were used to calculate whether there was a significant relationship between VTE risk level and PNI value and other variables. SPSS version 27.0 was used in these analyzes. Results: The average age of patients in our study was 58±11 years, with 57.3% being female and 42.7% male. The most common types of cancer among patients were lung cancer (26.3%), breast cancer (25.3%), gastrointestinal cancers (21%), and gynecological cancers (11%). There was no statistical significance between PNI and anthropometric measurements and VTE risk level. 63% of patients were in stage 4 of cancer, 16.7% in stage 3, 16% in stage 2, and 4.3% in stage 1. Metastasis was present in 57.7% of patients. Age, gender, use of herbal products, diagnostic groups, cancer stages, and receiving radiotherapy were found to be statistically significant with VTE risk level. Among the blood parameters, WBC, NEU, RBC, HGB, HCT, PLT, MPV, ALT, and Albumin were statistically significant with VTE risk level. Conclusion: No significant correlation was found between PNI and VTE risk level. However, albumin values, which are used in the calculation of PNI and may reflect the presence of inflammation or hypercoagulability, suggest that monitoring of albumin values in patient groups with high VTE risk may be evaluated as a marker in the treatment process. Key words: cancer, venous thromboembolism, prognostic nutritional index, anthropometric measurements