The Utility of the Cachexia Index and the Modified Glasgow Score in Young Patients With Breast Cancer

Abstract

Background Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women. Body composition and inflammatory markers are increasingly important for predicting cancer prognosis. The Cancer Cachexia Index (CXI) and the modified Glasgow Prognostic Score (GPS) are two new markers evaluating prognosis in cancer. In this study, we evaluated the utility of the CXI and the modified GPS in young patients with breast cancer. Methods Eighty patients diagnosed between 2012 and 2023 were included in the study. The following information was recorded: patient features, pathological subtype, estrogen receptor and human epidermal growth factor receptor -2 (HER -2) status, disease stage, therapies, disease recurrence, and last control or death date. The CXI and the modified GPS were calculated using clinical data, including skeletal muscle index, albumin, Creactive protein, and neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio. Results There were no differences in overall survival with respect to the CXI in the study population (p=0.96). Only stage 4 patients showed statistically significant survival differences according to the CXI (p=0.046). Although the median survival time was not reached for the modified GPS groups, there was a statistical overall survival difference favoring the negative group (p=0.017). No significant differences were observed in disease -free survival due to the CXI (p=0.128). In multivariate analysis, no factors, including the modified GPS and the CXI, influenced overall survival. There was a significant effect of the modified GPS and body mass index on recurrence (p=0.037; p=0.034). The CXI had a non -significant marginal p -value (p=0.074). Conclusion Our study showed that the modified GPS may be related to disease -free survival and overall survival, whereas the CXI has a more prominent prognostic effect on overall survival in advanced -stage breast cancers. In early -stage and young patients, optimization of risk scores is lacking.