Letter to the Editor in response to JPEN Journal Club 80. Prespecified outcomes.

We thank Dr. Koretz for critically reviewing and discussing the results of the prealbumin analysis, 1,2 a prespecified analysis asking the question whether low prealbumin levels may help to identify patients that have more pronounced benefits from nutritional support within a subgroup of patients included in the EFFORT trial. 3 Indeed, finding specific biomarkers that help to better phenotype patients and improve nutritional treatment decisions has become an important priority of current nutritional research and has recently been advocated in the revised ESPEN guidelines on nutrition in polymorbid patients. 4 Dr. Koretz raises several questions and concerns, which I would like to comment and provide some rational for decisions that have been taken. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.