New Study Reveals Prognostic Value of ARISCAT Score in Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma Patients

Researchers at Affiliated Huaian No. 1 People's Hospital of Nanjing Medical University have conducted a study to evaluate the prognostic value of the ARISCAT score in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) undergoing McKeown esophagectomy. The study, published in the European Journal of Medical Research, aimed to assess the predictive power of the ARISCAT score in combination with other perioperative indicators for postoperative pneumonia.

Key Takeaways:

• The study included 366 patients with histologically confirmed resectable ESCC who underwent curative thoraco-laparoscopic McKeown esophagectomy at a high-volume thoracic surgery center between January 2019 and December 2022.
• Postoperative pneumonia occurred in 99 of 366 patients (27.0%), with significantly higher ARISCAT scores, longer tumor lengths, and prolonged hospital stays in patients who developed pneumonia.
• The ARISCAT score was found to be an independent and robust predictor of postoperative pneumonia, with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.73 (95% CI 0.67-0.79) for predicting postoperative pneumonia.
• The integration of the ARISCAT score with inflammatory (LMR) and nutritional (PNI) markers significantly enhanced preoperative risk stratification, with an AUC of 0.84 (95% CI 0.80-0.88) for predicting postoperative pneumonia.
• The study's findings offer valuable clinical insights for personalized perioperative management and highlight the importance of accurate preoperative risk stratification in ESCC patients undergoing esophagectomy.

Statistics:

• 366 patients were included in the study, with 99 developing postoperative pneumonia (27.0%).
• The median ARISCAT score for patients with pneumonia was 59.6 ± 8.9, compared to 44.4 ± 7.6 for patients without pneumonia.
• Patients with pneumonia had a median tumor length of 4.5 ± 0.7 cm, compared to 3.8 ± 0.6 cm for patients without pneumonia.
• The median length of hospital stay for patients with pneumonia was 17.6 ± 2.8 days, compared to 13.6 ± 2.3 days for patients without pneumonia.

Sources:

• Prognostic value of the ARISCAT score for postoperative pneumonia in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma: a retrospective cohort study. European Journal of Medical Research, 2025,30(1):1-15.
• NewsRx. Study Findings on Squamous Cell Carcinoma Reported by Researchers at Affiliated Huaian No. 1 People's Hospital of Nanjing Medical University (Prognostic value of the ARISCAT score for postoperative pneumonia in patients with esophageal squamous ...). Respiratory Therapeutics Week. October 20, 2025; p 2276.