Preoperative Omega-6/Omega-3 Fatty Acid Ratio predicts postoperative outcomes in patients with surgically resected Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Abstract Background The aim of this study was to determine whether preoperative nutritional status and inflammatory status, specifically the omega fatty acids and the omega 6/3 ratio, would affect postoperative outcomes and complications in patients with lung cancer undergoing lung resection. Methods This prospective observational study included 68 patients with early-stage non-small cell lung cancer who were candidates for radical surgery. A complete nutritional assessment was performed. The primary study variable was postoperative complications and mortality in the first 30 days. Descriptive, bivariate, logistic regression analysis was carried out. Results A total of 50 men (73.53%) and 18 women (26.47%) underwent surgery, with a median age of 64.2 (± 9.74) years. The mean omega 6/3 ratio was 17.39 (± 9.45). A complication occurred in 39.7% of the study sample (n = 27), the most common being persistent air leak, in 23.53% (n = 16). After performing bivariate analysis taking the omega 6/3 ratio as a qualitative variable, we observed that the omega 6/3 ratio had prognostic value for persistent air leak (p = 0.001) independently of age, sex, comorbidity, preoperative respiratory function and approach or type of surgery. The remaining nutritional and inflammatory markers did not have a statistically significant association (p > 0.05) with postoperative complications. On multivariate analysis with an omega 6/3 ratio cut-off of 21, the only variable that remained significant was COPD (p = 0.03; 95% CI: 1.22–53.57). Conclusions Omega 6/3 ratio is a prognostic factor for air leak, independently of the patient’s clinical and pathological characteristics.