Cancer Management and Research (Nov 2019)

Predictive Role Of Body Composition Parameters In Operable Breast Cancer Patients Treated With Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy

  • Omarini C,
  • Palumbo P,
  • Pecchi A,
  • Draisci S,
  • Balduzzi S,
  • Nasso C,
  • Barbolini M,
  • Isca C,
  • Bocconi A,
  • Moscetti L,
  • Galetti S,
  • Tazzioli G,
  • Torricelli P,
  • Cascinu S,
  • Piacentini F

Journal volume & issue
Vol. Volume 11
pp. 9563 – 9569

Abstract

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Claudia Omarini,1 Patrizia Palumbo,2 Annarita Pecchi,3 Stefano Draisci,3 Sara Balduzzi,4 Cecilia Nasso,1 Monica Barbolini,1 Chrystel Isca,1 Alessandro Bocconi,1 Luca Moscetti,1 Silvia Galetti,5 Giovanni Tazzioli,6 Pietro Torricelli,3 Stefano Cascinu,1 Federico Piacentini1 1Division of Medical Oncology, Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences for Children & Adults, University Hospital of Modena, Modena, Italy; 2Division of Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism, Department of Specialist Medicines, University Hospital of Modena, Modena, Italy; 3Department of Radiology, University Hospital of Modena, Modena, Italy; 4Statistics Unit, Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences for Children & Adults, University Hospital of Modena, Modena, Italy; 5Division of Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism, Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences for Children & Adults, University Hospital of Modena, Modena, Italy; 6Department of General Surgery and Surgical Specialities, University Hospital of Modena, Modena, ItalyCorrespondence: Claudia OmariniDivision of Medical Oncology, Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences for Children & Adults, University Hospital of Modena, Via Del Pozzo 71, Modena 41122, ItalyTel +39 059 4222845Email [email protected]: Fat tissue is strongly involved in BC tumorigenesis inducing insulin resistance, chronic inflammation and hormonal changes. Computed tomography (CT) imaging instead of body mass index (BMI) gives a reliable measure of skeletal muscle mass and body fat distribution. The impact of body composition parameters (BCPs) on chemosensitivity is still debated. We examined the associations between BCPs and tumor response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NC) in patients treated for operable breast cancer (BC).Methods: A retrospective review of BC patients treated with NC in Modena Cancer Center between 2005 and 2017 was performed. BCPs, such as subcutaneous fat area (SFA), visceral fat area (VFA), lumbar skeletal muscle index (LSMI) and liver-to-spleen (L/S) ratio were calculated by Advance workstation (General Electric), software ADW server 3.2 or 4.7. BMI and BCPs were correlated with pathological complete response (pCR) and survival outcomes.Results: 407 patients were included in the study: 55% with BMI < 25 and 45% with BMI ≥ 25. 137 of them had pre-treatment CT scan imagines. Overweight was significantly associated with postmenopausal status and older age. Hormonal receptor positive BC was more frequent in overweight patients (p<0.05). Postmenopausal women had higher VFA, fatty liver disease and obesity compared to premenopausal patients. No association between BMI classes and tumor response was detected. High VFA and liver steatosis were negative predictive factors for pCR (pCR rate: 36% normal VFA vs 20% high VFA, p= 0.048; no steatosis 32% vs steatosis 13%, p=0.056). Neither BMI classes nor BCPs significantly influenced overall survival and relapse-free survival.Conclusion: Visceral adiposity as well as steatosis were closely involved in chemosensitivity in BC patients treated with NC. Their measures from clinically acquired CT scans provide significant predictive information that outperform BMI value. More research is required to evaluate the relationship among adiposity site and survival outcomes.Keywords: BMI, fat tissue, sarcopenia, pathological complete response, breast cancer

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