Abstract: Background and purpose: Onodera’s prognostic nutrition index is calculated by the numbers of serum albumin and peripheral blood lymphocytes, which can predict the prognosis of patients with advanced cancers, including lung cancer, esophageal cancer, gastric cancer, renal cancer, colorectal cancer and liver cancer. However, there are few studies on its correlation with adverse effects of concurrent chemoradiotherapy for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. This study aimed to explore the association between Onodera’s prognostic nutrition index and adverse effects in unresectable esophageal squamous cell carcinoma patients who received concurrent chemoradiotherapy. Methods: Data of 42 good-nourishment (Onodera index≥45) patients and 38 poor-nourishment (Onodera index＜45) patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma treated with concurrent chemoradiotherapy were collected. Correlations between Onodera index and the adverse effects were analyzed, including leukopenia, thrombocytopenia, nausea, vomiting, esophagitis, diarrhea and pneumonia. Results: The incidence of esophagitis (68.4% vs 45.2%, P=0.045) and diarrhea (15.8% vs 2.4%, P=0.034) were significantly higher in poor-nourishment group than in good-nourishment group. We further analyzed the difference in severe adverse effects between the two groups. There was a trend that the incidence of severe esophagitis was higher in poor-nourishment group than in good-nourishment group (34.2% vs 16.7%). However, no statistically significant difference was found (P=0.070). Conclusion: Onodera’s prognostic nutrition index has a good predictive effect on the adverse effects in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma patients treated with concurrent chemoradiotherapy.

Key words: Onodera’s prognostic nutrition index, Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, Concurrent chemoradiotherapy, Adverse effects