THE IMPACT OF CONTROLLING NUTRITIONAL STATUS (CONUT) IN THE PROGNOSIS OF NON-SMALL CELL LUNG CANCER

<bold>Background:</bold> The CONUT score is an immuno-nutritional screening tool based on serum albumin, total cholesterol, and lymphocyte count. The aim of this study was to assess the CONUT score as a potential prognostic factor of response to therapy in patients with lung cancer. <bold>Methods:</bold> We retrospectively evaluated 109 patients with diagnosis of locally advanced and advanced NSCLC admitted to our department between January 2021 and September 2023. All patients were assessed at baseline T0 and T1 after four cycles of therapy. The association of CONUT with clinicopathological factors and survival were evaluated. <bold>Results:</bold> The best CONUT cut-off able to predict the response to treatment was 2. Both PFS and OS were better in patients with CONUT score <2 than in those with CONUT ³ 2 respectively 0.033 and 0.011. Patients in high CONUT group were more likely to have brain metastases. We also observed that patients with a CONUT score 0-2 had a significantly better response, according to RECIST criteria. Moreover, the CONUT score has slightly modified correlation with GNRI and PNI. <bold>Conclusion:</bold> CONUT score represents a relatively new screening tool, easily applicable in clinical practice and it can be useful for predicting survival in lung cancer patients.