Serum zinc concentration and extracellular water/total body water ratio on admission may be independent predictors of the prognosis of patients with terminal colorectal cancer.
- 1Department of Surgery and Palliative Medicine, Fujita Health University, School of Medicine, Tsu, Mie, Japan.
Abstract
Objectives
In palliative care, it is important to accurately predict the prognosis of patients with cancer. Therefore, we aimed to identify prognostic factors for patients with terminal colorectal cancer.Methods
Of the 756 patients with terminal cancer admitted for palliative care who subsequently died over a 3-year period starting in April 2018, 59 (7.8%) had colorectal cancer, did not die within 7 days of admission, and were studied. At admission, the circulating concentrations of cachexia-related proteins, tumor markers, and essential trace elements were measured. Additionally, body composition was analyzed by bioelectrical impedance analysis using an InBody S10. Prognostic factors were identified using multivariate analysis.Results
The median age of the patients was 80 years (26 male and 33 female). The median duration of survival from admission was 35 days (interquartile range: 20-55 days). After adjustment for potential confounding factors (age, sex, the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status, and body mass index), multivariate analysis revealed that the serum zinc concentration (hazard ratio [HR]: 0.9804; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.9658-0.9938; p=0.0066) and the extracellular water/total body water (ECW/TBW) ratio (HR: 1.3587; 95% CI: 1.1062-1.6753; p=0.0037) were independent prognostic factors. The optimal cutoff value of ECW/TBW to categorize 4-week survival was calculated to be 0.421.Conclusions
The serum Zn concentration and the ECW/TBW ratio were shown to be independent predictors of the prognosis of patients with terminal colorectal cancer at the commencement of palliative care.
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BibTeX
@article{ito2026serum,
title = {{Serum zinc concentration and extracellular water/total body water ratio on admission may be independent predictors of the prognosis of patients with terminal colorectal cancer.}},
author = {Akihiro Ito and Masanobu Usui and Miyo Murai and Norimasa Tsuzuki and Akihiko Futamura and Kazuki Imai},
journal = {Fujita medical journal},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.20407/fmj.2026-007},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42968888},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Serum zinc concentration and extracellular water/total body water ratio on admission may be independent predictors of the prognosis of patients with terminal colorectal cancer.
AU - Akihiro Ito
AU - Masanobu Usui
AU - Miyo Murai
AU - Norimasa Tsuzuki
AU - Akihiko Futamura
AU - Kazuki Imai
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/25
JO - Fujita medical journal
DO - 10.20407/fmj.2026-007
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42968888
AB - Objectives In palliative care, it is important to accurately predict the prognosis of patients with cancer. Therefore, we aimed to identify prognostic factors for patients with terminal colorectal cancer.Methods Of the 756 patients with terminal cancer admitted for palliative care who subsequently died over a 3-year period starting in April 2018, 59 (7.8%) had colorectal cancer, did not die within 7 days of admission, and were studied. At admission, the circulating concentrations of cachexia-related proteins, tumor markers, and essential trace elements were measured. Additionally, body composition was analyzed by bioelectrical impedance analysis using an InBody S10. Prognostic factors were identified using multivariate analysis.Results The median age of the patients was 80 years (26 male and 33 female). The median duration of survival from admission was 35 days (interquartile range: 20-55 days). After adjustment for potential confounding factors (age, sex, the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status, and body mass index), multivariate analysis revealed that the serum zinc concentration (hazard ratio [HR]: 0.9804; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.9658-0.9938; p=0.0066) and the extracellular water/total body water (ECW/TBW) ratio (HR: 1.3587; 95% CI: 1.1062-1.6753; p=0.0037) were independent prognostic factors. The optimal cutoff value of ECW/TBW to categorize 4-week survival was calculated to be 0.421.Conclusions The serum Zn concentration and the ECW/TBW ratio were shown to be independent predictors of the prognosis of patients with terminal colorectal cancer at the commencement of palliative care.
SN - 2189-7247
SN - 2189-7255
ER -