Prognostic value of albumin in patients with head and neck cancer.

Objectives/hypothesis: Albumin is an indicator of nutritional status and has been investigated as a predictor of cancer survival and perioperative outcomes. This study investigated the prognostic value of preoperative serum albumin in surgical patients with head and neck cancer (HNC).
Study Design: Retrospective cohort study.
Methods: A chart review was performed of patients who underwent HNC resection over a 6-year period at a single institution. Statistical analyses including Cox proportional hazards models, Pearson's correlation, and logistic regression were used to identify relationships between preoperative serum albumin and postoperative outcomes. Albumin was analyzed as a continuous variable.
Results: A total of 604 patients were studied representing all cancer types. There was no association between albumin and pneumonia, flap complications, or length of stay. Albumin was found to have statistically significant inverse associations with overall survival (OS) (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.685, P < .001) and postoperative wound infection (HR = 0.455, P = .001). In multivariate analysis of OS, albumin did not achieve significance as an independent predictor (HR = 0.78, P = .064), whereas hemoglobin, age, and cancer stage remained significant. In a subgroup of 280 patients with upper aerodigestive squamous cell carcinoma (SCCA), albumin maintained significance in multivariate analysis of OS (HR = 0.74, P = .046). When controlling for preoperative radiotherapy, salvage surgery, and cancer stage in multivariate analysis, albumin was a significant predictor of wound infection (OR = 0.55, P = .018).
Conclusions: In patients with HNC, lower preoperative serum albumin is associated with an increased rate of wound infection and poorer OS. The effect on OS is most pronounced in patients with upper aerodigestive SCCA.
Level of Evidence: 2b Laryngoscope, 126:1567-1571, 2016.
(© 2016 The American Laryngological, Rhinological and Otological Society, Inc.)