Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34520494›Full record

SynthesisPloS one2021

Prognostic role of the prognostic nutritional index (PNI) in patients with head and neck neoplasms undergoing radiotherapy: A meta-analysis.

Yujie Shi, Yue Zhang, Yaling Niu, Yingjie Chen, Changgui Kou

Open access · goldAbstract readMeta-Analysis
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in PloS one, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
22citing papers in PubMed, 6 pooled it
1.4field-weighted citation impact, top 15% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

22 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 26 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Pooled it
  4. Pooled it
  5. Pooled it
  6. Pooled it
  7. Whole-course high-quality nursing combined with nutritional intervention improves perioperative outcomes in spinal surgery: a randomized controlled trial.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2026
    Trial
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. Article
  17. Article
  18. Article
  19. Article
  20. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Yujie ShiDepartment of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin Province, China.
Yue ZhangDepartment of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin Province, China.
Yaling NiuDepartment of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin Province, China.
Yingjie ChenDepartment of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin Province, China.
Changgui KouDepartment of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin Province, China.ORCID 0000-0001-9544-4066
Jilin University · CN

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThis novel meta-analysis was conducted to systematically and comprehensively evaluate the prognostic role of the pretreatment PNI in patients with head and neck neoplasms (HNNs) undergoing radiotherapy.

methodsThree databases, PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science, were used to retrieve desired literature. Hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were extracted and pooled by fixed-effects or random-effects models to analyze the relationship between the PNI and survival outcomes: overall survival (OS), distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS), and progression-free survival (PFS).

resultsTen eligible studies involving 3,458 HNN patients were included in our analysis. The robustness of the pooled results was ensured by heterogeneity tests (I2 = 22.6%, 0.0%, and 0.0% for OS, DMFS, and PFS, respectively). The fixed-effects model revealed a lower pretreatment PNI was significantly related to a worse OS (HR = 1.974; 95% CI: 1.642-2.373; P<0.001), DMFS (HR = 1.959; 95% CI: 1.599-2.401; P<0.001), and PFS (HR = 1.498; 95% CI: 1.219-1.842; P<0.001). The trim-and-fill method (HR = 1.877; 95% CI: 1.361-2.589) was also used to prove that the existing publication bias did not deteriorate the reliability of the relationship.

conclusionThe pretreatment PNI is a promising indicator to evaluate and predict the long-term prognostic survival outcomes in HNN patients undergoing radiotherapy.

Indexed as

Nutrition AssessmentDisease-Free SurvivalFemaleHead and Neck NeoplasmsHumansImmune SystemMaleNasopharyngeal CarcinomaNeoplasm MetastasisPrognosisProportional Hazards ModelsRadiotherapyReproducibility of ResultsTreatment Outcome

Identifiers

PMID34520494
PMCPMC8439446
OpenAlexW3200312869

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.