Predicting Postallogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplant Glucose Intolerance: The Role of CT-based Body Composition

The description of methodologic approaches to quantifying skeletal muscle and adipose tissue compartments using routinely obtained CT images among patients with cancer have reinvigorated the field of body composition research in this population. In the accompanying article, Bhandari and colleagues demonstrate yet another application of body composition measurement in oncology; identification of glucose intolerance shortly after undergoing allogenic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation among adults with myeloid neoplasms. The authors were able to show that skeletal muscle mass and visceral adipose tissue were associated with an increased risk of incident dysglycemia within 30 days of transplantation. This article further supports the growing evidence that body composition measures can provide clinically meaningful information in oncology allowing identification of individuals at risk of a variety of adverse events during cancer therapy. See related article by Bhandari et al., p. 2004.