Pre-operative serum albumin level substantially predicts post-operative morbidity and mortality among patients with colorectal cancer who undergo elective colectomy

J. M. Chiang*, C. J. Chang, S. F. Jiang, C. Y. Yeh, J. F. You, P. S. Hsieh, H. Y. Huang

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal Article peer-review

43 Scopus citations

Abstract

The quantitative relationship between serum albumin level and surgical outcomes has not been clearly established. This study included 3732 patients with colon cancer who underwent a potentially curative colectomy. Post-operative mortality and morbidity were analysed according to the patients' demographic data, pre-operative comorbidities, and tumour-related factors. Age, asthma, renal impairment, and albumin level were significantly associated with post-operative morbidity and mortality in the multivariate analyses. Logistic regression analysis revealed linear relationships of post-operative morbidity and mortality with albumin level. The morbidity and mortality rates decreased by 7.3% and 15.6%, respectively, for each 0.1 g/dL increase in albumin level. This finding remained significant in the hypoalbuminaemia subgroup but not in the normoalbuminaemia subgroup. That is, the morbidity and mortality rates significantly decreased by 8.7% and 17.7%, respectively (both P < 0.001), in the former group and decreased by 2.7% (P = 0.112) and 11.6% (P = 0.092), respectively, in the latter group. This study demonstrated that serum albumin level linearly predicted the post-operative morbidity and mortality among the colorectal cancer patients. Pre-operative serum albumin level may therefore be used as a continuous rather than a categorical marker of disease severity, especially among patients with hypoalbuminaemia.

Original languageEnglish
Article numbere12403
JournalEuropean Journal of Cancer Care
Volume26
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - 01 03 2017

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd

Keywords

  • colon cancer
  • nutrition

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