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. 2022 Jun 22;22(1):688.
doi: 10.1186/s12885-022-09751-6.

Effect of musculature on mortality, a retrospective cohort study

Amy L Shaver  1   2 , Mary E Platek  3   4 , Anurag K Singh  3 , Sung Jun Ma  3 , Mark Farrugia  3 , Gregory Wilding  5 , Andrew D Ray  6 , Heather M Ochs-Balcom  7 , Katia Noyes  7
Affiliations

Effect of musculature on mortality, a retrospective cohort study

Amy L Shaver et al. BMC Cancer. .

Abstract

Background: While often life-saving, treatment for head and neck cancer (HNC) can be debilitating resulting in unplanned hospitalization. Hospitalizations in cancer patients may disrupt treatment and result in poor outcomes. Pre-treatment muscle quality and quantity ascertained through diagnostic imaging may help identify patients at high risk of poor outcomes early. The primary objective of this study was to determine if pre-treatment musculature was associated with all-cause mortality.

Methods: Patient demographic and clinical characteristics were abstracted from the cancer center electronic database (n = 403). Musculature was ascertained from pre-treatment CT scans. Propensity score matching was utilized to adjust for confounding bias when comparing patients with and without myosteatosis and with and without low muscle mass (LMM). Overall survival (OS) was evaluated using the Kaplan-Meier method and Cox multivariable analysis.

Results: A majority of patients were male (81.6%), white (89.6%), with stage IV (41.2%) oropharyngeal cancer (51.1%) treated with definitive radiation and chemotherapy (93.3%). Patients with myosteatosis and those with LMM were more likely to die compared to those with normal musculature (5-yr OS HR 1.55; 95% CI 1.03-2.34; HR 1.58; 95% CI 1.04-2.38).

Conclusions: Musculature at the time of diagnosis was associated with overall mortality. Diagnostic imaging could be utilized to aid in assessing candidates for interventions targeted at maintaining and increasing muscle reserves.

Keywords: Body composition; CCRT; Head and neck cancer; Mortality; Muscle density; Radiotherapy.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Overall Survival Myosteatosis compared to No Myosteatosis
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Overall Survival Low Muscle Mass compared to Normal Muscle Mass
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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