Prognostic significance of CT-determined sarcopenia in patients with metastatic pulmonary adenocarcinoma

Abstract

The aim. To determine the prognostic significance of computed tomography (CT)-determined sarcopenia in patients with metastatic pulmonary adenocarcinoma. Materials and methods. Thirty patients with metastatic pulmonary adenocarcinoma who received polychemotherapy in the medical center “ONCOLIFE” from 2019 to 2020 were examined. The cross-sectional area was measured using archival CT images. The criteria of sarcopenia was skeletal muscle index at the level of the third lumbar vertebra <55 cm2/m2 for men and <39 cm2/m2 for women. Results. Among 30 patients with stage IV non-squamous cell lung cancer, sarcopenia was present in 17 (56.6 %) cases. The median age at diagnosis was 62 years. Patients with sarcopenia had worse 1-year overall survival than those without sarcopenia (23.5 % vs. 65.9 %, respectively, P = 0.024 by the log-rank test). A statistically significant gender difference was not observed for survival. Conclusions. CT-determined sarcopenia is an important prognostic marker in patients with metastatic pulmonary adenocarcinoma. Further study is needed to improve treatment outcomes of sarcopenia in patients with malignant neoplasms.

Keywords

• sarcopenia
• lung adenocarcinoma
• computed tomography
• survival