Cancer Management and Research (Aug 2018)

Association of low skeletal muscle index with increased systematic inflammatory responses and interferon γ-induced protein 10 levels in patients with colon cancer

  • He WZ,
  • Yang QX,
  • Xie JY,
  • Kong PF,
  • Hu WM,
  • Yang L,
  • Yang YZ,
  • Xie QK,
  • Jiang C,
  • Yin CX,
  • Guo GF,
  • Qiu HJ,
  • Zhang B,
  • Xia LP

Journal volume & issue
Vol. Volume 10
pp. 2499 – 2507

Abstract

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Wen-Zhuo He,1,* Qiu-Xia Yang,2,* Jin-Ye Xie,3,* Peng-Fei Kong,1 Wan-Ming Hu,4 Lin Yang,1 Yuan-Zhong Yang,4 Qian-Kun Xie,1 Chang Jiang,1 Chen-Xi Yin,1 Gui-Fang Guo,1 Hui-Juan Qiu,1 Bei Zhang,1 Liang-Ping Xia1 1VIP Region, State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510060, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Medical Imaging, State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, Guangdong, 510060, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Biochemistry, Zhongshan School of Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510060, People’s Republic of China; 4Department of Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510060, People’s Republic of China *These authors contributed equally to this work Background: Skeletal muscle depletion is a prognostic factor in patients with cancer. Here, we evaluated the association between the skeletal muscle index (SMI) and local and systemic responses in patients with colon cancer.Patients and methods: We analyzed the relationships of the SMI with neutrophil, lymphocyte, monocyte, and platelet counts; the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio; albumin levels; and C-reactive protein levels in a cohort of 561 patients, and with the circulating levels of 39 cytokines in a cohort of 125 patients. We also studied the association between the SMI and tumor local inflammatory response and the effect of SMI on survival.Results: The median SMIs for male and female subjects were 44.1 and 34.2 cm2/m2, respectively. We observed positive correlations of the SMI with neutrophil (p=0.022), lymphocyte (p=0.001), and monocyte counts (p=0.003). A low SMI correlated significantly with an increased platelet count (p=0.017), decreased albumin level (p=0.006), neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio >3 (p=0.021), and an increased interferon γ-induced protein 10 level (IP-10, r = –0.276, p=0.002). The SMI did not correlate significantly with local inflammatory reactions or the C-reactive protein level. Finally, the SMI was a significant prognosticator in patients with stage III colon cancer (3-year disease-free survival rates: 35.1% for the low SMI arms versus 46.0% in the high SMI arms; HR =2.036; p=0.034).Conclusion: This study highlights the association of a low SMI with a high systematic inflammatory response and IP-10 levels. Furthermore, low SMI is a predictor of poor disease-free survival in patients with stage III colon cancer. Keywords: colon cancer, skeletal muscle, interferon γ-induced protein 10

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