Influence of Prognostic Nutritional Index on the Surveillance After Surgery-Based Systematic Therapy for Breast Cancer

Objective Prognostic nutritional index (PNI) is a comprehensive reflection of the nutritional and immune status of the patient, which is closely related to the ability of the organism to clear tumor cells and reduce local recurrence. Several findings suggested that PNI was a prognostic indicator for breast cancer, but the conclusions were conflicting. We aimed to comprehensively elucidate the prognostic value of PNI in breast cancer patients. Methods Relevant studies in PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science databases were searched through March 2023. Data extraction and literature quality assessment of the screened studies were performed. The associations between PNI and overall survival (OS), disease-free survival (DFS), and progression-free survival (PFS) in breast cancer patients who received clinical treatment were assessed by hazard ratios ( HR) and 95% confidence intervals ( CIs). Results A total of 7 studies involving 2212 patients met the inclusion criteria. High PNI was a favorable independent predictor of prolonged OS and PFS after clinical treatment in breast cancer patients compared to low PNI (for OS: HR = .38, 95% CIs .31 ∼ .46, P < .001; for DFS: HR = .32, 95% CIs .19 ∼ .51, P < .001). In subgroup analysis, high PNI was a prognostic factor for extended DFS in the context of a study sample size ≥300 ( HR = .39, 95% CIs .28 ∼ .54, P < .001) and patients not receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy ( HR = .51, 95% CIs .37 ∼ .70, P < .001). Conclusion The PNI has a significant correlation with the prognosis of breast cancer patients. We suggest that individualized targeted treatment and long-term surveillance should be implemented for patients with different levels of PNI.