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Prognostic value of preoperative sarcopenia in gastric cancer: A 10-year follow-up study
Hua-Long Zheng1, Ling-Hua Wei1, Bin-Bin Xu1
1Department of Gastric Surgery, Fujian Medical University Union Hospital, Fuzhou, 350001, China; Department of General Surgery, Fujian Medical University Union Hospital, Fuzhou, 350001, China; Key Laboratory of Ministry of Education of Gastrointestinal Cancer, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, 350001, China; Fujian Key Laboratory of Tumor Microbiology, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, 350001, China; Fujian Province Minimally Invasive Medical Center, Fuzhou, 350001, China.
Background:
Preoperative sarcopenia is associated with prognosis in patients with gastric cancer (GC); however, studies with 10-year survival follow-up are lacking.
Methods:
Consecutive patients with GC who underwent radical gastrectomy between December 2009-2012 were included retrospectively. Preoperative sarcopenia was diagnosed using computed tomography skeletal muscle index. The Kaplan-Meier method estimated overall survival (OS) and relapse-free survival (RFS). Cox proportional hazard regression analysis determined the prognostic factors for OS and RFS.
Results:
In total, 781 patients with GC were included; among these, 207 (26.5%) had preoperative sarcopenia. Patients with sarcopenia had significantly lower 10-year OS and RFS than patients without sarcopenia (39.61% vs. 58.71% and 39.61% vs. 57.84%, respectively). Further, preoperative sarcopenia was an independent risk factor for 10-year OS (HR = 1.467; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.169-1.839) and RFS (HR = 1.450; 95% CI: 1.157-1.819). Patients with sarcopenia had a higher risk of death and recurrence in the first 10 years postoperatively than patients without sarcopenia. Additionally, the risk of death (HR = 2.62; 95% CI:1.581-4.332) and recurrence (HR = 2.34; 95% CI:1.516-3.606) was the highest in the 1st postoperative year and remained relatively stable thereafter. Further, postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy significantly improved 10-year OS (p = 0.006; HR = 0.558) and RFS (p = 0.008; HR = 0.573) in patients with TNM stage II-III GC that presented with sarcopenia.
Conclusion:
Preoperative sarcopenia remained an independent risk factor for postoperative very long-term prognosis of GC. Postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy improved the long-term outcomes of stage II-III patients with sarcopenia.
