Resumen
Inflammatory biomarkers have been widely investigated as potential predictors of prognosis among patients with gastric cancer (GC). Recently, a novel cancer biomarker, the inflammation burden index (IBI), was proposed, which is defined as the product of C-reactive protein multiplied by the neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio. The IBI comprehensively evaluates inflammatory load in cancer patients, and to date, IBI has been validated only in the Eastern population, which is known for genetic and clinicopathological differences from Western GC patients. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate IBI as a prognostic biomarker among Central European patients undergoing multimodal treatment for GC. A low IBI was observed among patients obtaining neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC), and a high IBI was associated with an increased risk of postoperative complications and a higher mortality rate. IBI might help tailor treatment decision making. However, it requires further validation in a large prospective population-based study.