ALB and cancer: Furthermore, because it is being used not only for advanced malignant tumors but also for malignant diseases in general, the change over time in the prognostic nutrition index was assessed in this study using the calculation for PNI proposed by Onodera et al. The nutritional assessment by Onodera et al. uses the albumin level and lymphocyte count, with the advantage of being able to be easily calculated from a normal blood test.