Prognostic value of the geriatric nutritional risk index among patients with previously treated advanced non‐small cell lung cancer who subsequently underwent immunotherapy

BACKGROUND: The geriatric nutritional risk index (GNRI) is a simple and useful marker for predicting prognosis and treatment efficacy among patients with various cancers. However, to the best of our knowledge, there are no previous reports regarding the prognostic value of GNRI among patients with non‐small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who were treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). METHODS: We retrospectively evaluated 85 patients with previously treated advanced NSCLC who were administered ICIs at Shinshu University Hospital between February 2016 and October 2020. Progression‐free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were compared between groups with high (≥89.5) and low (<89.5) GNRI values. We used univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses to identify prognostic factors that were associated with PFS and OS. RESULTS: The high and low GNRI groups included 61 and 24 patients, respectively. Relative to the low GNRI group, the high GNRI group had significantly longer median PFS (3.7 vs. 2.4 months, p = 0.041) and significantly longer median OS (14.2 vs. 6.1 months, p = 0.008). Multivariate analyses revealed that independent predictors of favorable OS were high GNRI, performance status of 0–1, and age of ≥70 years. The high GNRI group was significantly more likely to undergo subsequent therapy after immunotherapy (68.6 vs. 33.3%, p = 0.008). CONCLUSIONS: The present study revealed that high GNRI was associated with good outcomes among patients with previously treated NSCLC who were treated with ICIs.