Glasgow prognostic score predicts outcome after surgical resection of gallbladder cancer

Systemic inflammation as evidenced by the Glasgow prognostic score (GPS) predicts cancer-specific survival in various types of cancer. The aim of this study was to evaluate the significance of GPS in therapeutic outcome after surgical resection of gallbladder cancer.

The subjects were 51 patients who underwent surgical resection for gallbladder cancer. For the assessment of systemic inflammatory response using the GPS, patients were classified into three groups: patients with normal albumin (≥3.5 g/dl) and normal C-reactive protein (CRP) (≤1.0 mg/dl) as GPS 0 (n = 38), those with low albumin (<3.5 g/dl) or elevated CRP (>1.0 mg/dl) as GPS 1 (n = 8), and those with low albumin (<3.5 g/dl) and elevated CRP (>1.0 mg/dl) as GPS 2 (n = 5). We retrospectively investigated the relation between patient characteristics including GPS, and disease-free as well as overall survival.

In disease-free survival, advanced tumor stage based on pathology (p = 0.006), positive lymph node metastasis (p = 0.001), and GPS 1 or 2 (p = 0.006) were independent predictors of cancer recurrence in multivariate analysis. In overall survival, positive lymph node metastasis (p = 0.002) and GPS 1 or 2 (p = 0.032) were independent predictors of poor patient outcome in multivariate analyses.

The GPS in patients with gallbladder cancer is an independent prognostic predictor after surgical resection.