The effect of lifestyle interventions on sarcopenia in advanced colorectal cancer: A systematic review

Sarcopenia is a common syndrome in older patients with advanced colorectal cancer that is worsened during standard-of-care chemotherapy and is associated with increased chemotherapy toxicity, impaired quality of life, and poorer survival independent of cancer stage or chemotherapy response. Physical activity and nutrition interventions have been shown to support muscle mass in patients recovering from treatment for early-stage colorectal cancer. The aim of this present review was to evaluate the effect of physical activity and nutritional interventions on sarcopenia in patients with advanced colorectal cancer.

We performed a systematic literature review of studies investigating the impact of physical activity and nutritional interventions on muscle mass in patients with advanced colorectal cancer. Relevant key words were searched in appropriate databases through December 2022. Review procedures were performed in line with guidelines from the Cochrane Handbook for systematic reviews and Synthesis Without Meta-analysis (SWiM) guidelines.

Twelve studies were identified with 1461 participants of which 587 had advanced colorectal cancer. Eight studies were randomised controlled trials (RCTs). Only two studies exclusively reported on the population with advanced colorectal cancer. Physical activity and nutritional interventions explored were heterogenous. Studies reporting an improvement in muscle mass utilised protein supplementation (one study), moderate intensity aerobic exercise (one study), and assisted resistance training (two studies). However, only a small number of participants with advanced colorectal cancer were included in these studies. Risk of bias was moderate to high for most studies. Recruitment to physical activity interventions was often low although adherence to supervised interventions was high. Physical activity and nutritional interventions across studies were safe.

A small number of studies with limited sample size and moderate-to-high risk of bias suggest that assisted resistance training and supported protein intake improve muscle mass in participants with cancer. However, there is currently sparse evidence for the effect of physical activity and nutritional interventions on sarcopenia in the setting of advanced and incurable colorectal cancer. Given the impact of sarcopenia in this population, further research in this area is warranted.