Methods for diagnosing malnutrition in patients with esophageal cancer, and the association with nutritional and inflammatory indices: A cross‑sectional study

Clinically, it is important to diagnose malnutrition for the treatment and prognosis of cancer patients; however, at present, there are no established standards. The present study evaluated the consistency of malnutrition diagnostic tools in association with relevant nutritional and inflammatory markers in patients with advanced esophageal cancer. Specifically, the Patient-Generated Subjective Global Assessment (PG-SGA) and Global Leadership Initiative on Malnutrition (GLIM) tools were assessed. Patients with a new diagnosis of esophageal cancer at Tengzhou Central People's Hospital (Tengzhou, China) between January 2023 and December 2023 were evaluated within 24 h of admission using Nutritional Risk Screening 2002 (NRS2002), GLIM and PG-SGA. Additionally, relevant physical examinations and laboratory data were collected. The malnutrition occurrence rates based on PG-SGA, GLIM and GLIM with NRS2002 screening (NRS2002-GLIM) were 75.01, 51.88 and 41.25%, respectively. The agreement between PG-SGA and GLIM, and between PG-SGA and NRS2002-GLIM diagnoses was weak (κ=0.379, P<0.001; and κ=0.376, P<0.001, respectively). PG-SGA showed a moderate negative correlation with body mass index (BMI) (rs=-0.460), weak positive correlations with age (r_s=0.234) and IL-6 (r_s=0.249), and very weak negative correlations with albumin (r_s=-0.178) and PNI (r_s=-0.168). While the indicators correlated with GLIM and PG-SGA were consistent, the strength of correlation varied slightly. Logistic regression analysis of PG-SGA and GLIM indicated that age and BMI were independent risk factors for malnutrition. In addition, PG-SGA also showed that the neutrophil count was an independent risk factor for malnutrition. Overall, patients with esophageal cancer exhibit a high incidence of malnutrition, and different diagnostic methods provide varying results. Malnutrition is closely associated with age, inflammatory markers and BMI, suggesting their potential utility in guiding nutritional interventions for patients with esophageal cancer.