Correlation of growth differentiation factor 15 level in esophageal cancer with cachectic indicators and postoperative infectious complication

Abstract Background Patients with esophageal cancer (EC) usually have multiple comorbidities, particularly, high cachexia incidence, which may lead to increased postoperative complications. A novel inflammatory marker, growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF15), was recently reported to be associated with cancer cachexia. This study evaluated the correlation between clinical data suggestive of cachexia in patients with EC and circulating GDF15 levels. Methods Eighty patients with EC were enrolled in this study. Plasma samples were collected before initiating any cancer treatment. GDF15 was quantified using ELISA. Clinical information, including age, comorbidities, biochemical data, Controlling Nutritional Status score, and Psoas muscle index (PMI), was collected from the clinical records. Clinical impact of GDF15 was then evaluated and compared with cachectic indicators or postoperative results. Results The median value of GDF15 was 1168 pg/mL (range 298–9100 pg/mL). GDF15 values statistically correlated with age, prevalence of diabetes, serum level of aspartate aminotransferase/γ-glutamyltransferase/creatinine/blood sugar/albumin, and PMI. Sixty-three patients finally underwent curative esophagectomy with right thoracic approach and gastric tube reconstruction. Patients with infectious complications had a statistically higher GDF15 than those without. The cut-off value was 930 pg/mL for detecting infectious complications, with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve value of 0.685, and high GDF15 was detected as an independent risk factor for postoperative infectious complications. Conclusions GDF15 is potentially suggestive of general condition deterioration from aging, organ dysfunction, and decreased muscle mass, which may lead to cachexia in patients with EC. Moreover, patients with higher GDF15 are at a risk of postoperative infectious complications.