ALB and malnutrition: Systemic inflammation and malnutrition are responsible for cancer growth, tumorigenesis, and metastasis, and these can be assessed by routine laboratory examinations at the time of diagnosis (7, 8); therefore, various nutrition/inflammation-based biomarkers, such as C-reactive protein–albumin ratio (CAR), platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), and albumin–globulin ratio (AGR), are used for early estimation of head and neck cancer (HNC) prognosis (9–12).