Geriatric nutritional risk index as a predictor of complications and long-term outcomes in patients with gastrointestinal malignancy: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: The effect of the geriatric nutritional risk index (GNRI) on the prognosis of patients with gastrointestinal malignancy remains unclear. The aim of our study was to systematically explore the value of the GNRI in evaluating postoperative complications and long-term outcomes in gastrointestinal malignancy. METHODS: A systematic literature search was conducted using electronic databases to report the impact of the GNRI on postoperative complications and long-term outcomes of patients with gastrointestinal malignancies as of August 2020. The hazard ratio (HR) with a 95% confidence interval (CI) was used to evaluate the impact of the GNRI on long-term outcomes. The risk ratio (RR) with 95% CI was used to assess the impact of the GNRI on postoperative complications. RESULT: A total of nine studies with 2,153 patients were enrolled in our meta-analysis. The results suggested that a low GNRI was correlated with poor overall survival of patients with gastrointestinal malignancy (HR = 1.94, 95% CI 1.65–2.28, p < 0.001). Patients with a low GNRI had a higher risk of complications than patients with a high GNRI (OR = 2.19, 95% CI 1.57–3.05, p < 0.001). In addition, patients with a low GNRI had shorter relapse-free survival (HR = 2.45, 95% CI 1.50–4.00, p < 0.001) and disease-free survival (HR = 1.84, 95% CI 1.23–2.76, p = 0.003) than those with a high GNRI. However, the GNRI was not an independent factor affecting cancer-specific survival (HR = 1.60, 95% CI 0.91–2.82, p = 0.101). CONCLUSION: Based on existing evidence, the GNRI was a valuable predictor of complications and long-term outcomes in patients with gastrointestinal malignancy.