ALB and cancer: Because NLR and serum albumin level are component factors of ALI, we performed a separate multivariate analysis to prevent high collinearity; the results indicated advanced overall stage, the presence of ENE, poor cancer cell differentiation, serum albumin level of < 4.21, NLR of ≥ 4.51, and ALI of <33.6 to be independent prognostic factors for poor OS and DFS (Table 5).