Prognostic Value of a Modified Albumin–Bilirubin Score Designed for Patients with Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma after Radical Resection

The albumin–bilirubin (ALBI) score was originally developed to assess the severity of liver dysfunction in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma and has subsequently been used as a prognostic marker for that disease. Here, we examined the value of the preoperative ALBI score as a prognostic marker for patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) after radical esophagectomy. We retrospectively analyzed data from 449 patients who underwent curative resection for ESCC. The ALBI score was calculated as (log10 serum bilirubin [μmol/l] × 0.66) + (serum albumin [g/l] × − 0.0852). Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was used to define a preoperative modified ALBI (mALBI) score for patient stratification. Of the 449 ESCC patients, 232 and 217 were assigned to mALBI Grade 1 or Grade 2 groups based on preoperative ALBI scores of ≤ − 3.33 or > − 3.33, respectively. Preoperative mALBI grade was significantly associated with age, excessive alcohol consumption, squamous cell carcinoma antigen level, and clinical disease stage. The mALBI Grade 2 group had significantly shorter disease-specific and recurrence-free survival than the mALBI Grade 1 group. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that mALBI Grade 2 was an independent prognostic factor for disease-specific survival (hazard ratio 1.86, 95% confidence interval 1.18–2.93, P = 0.0074). In most subgroup analyses, mALBI Grade 2 was associated with a greater risk of disease-specific death. mALBI grade serves as a simple and useful prognostic marker for disease-specific survival in patients with ESCC after radical esophagectomy.