BackgroundBreast cancer is one of the most commonly diagnosed cancers, and the fourth leading cause of cancer deaths in females worldwide. Sarcopenia is related to adverse clinical outcomes in patients with malignancies. Muscle index is a key parameter in evaluating sarcopenia. However, there is no data investigating the association between muscle index and distant metastasis in breast cancer. The aim of this study was to explore whether muscle index can effectively predict distant metastasis and death outcomes in breast cancer patients.Study DesignThe clinical data of 493 breast cancer patients at the Harbin Medical University Cancer Hospital between January 2014 and December 2015 were retrospectively analyzed. Quantitative measurements of pectoralis muscle area and skeletal muscle area were performed at the level of the fourth thoracic vertebra (T4) and the eleventh thoracic vertebra (T11) of the chest computed tomography image, respectively. The pectoralis muscle index (PMI) and skeletal muscle index (SMI) were assessed by the normalized muscle area (area/the square of height). Survival analysis was performed using the log-rank test and Cox proportional hazards regression analysis.ResultThe patients with metastases had lower PMI at T4 level (PMI/T4) and SMI at T11 level (SMI/T11) compared with the patients without metastases. Moreover, there were significant correlations between PMI/T4 and lymphovascular invasion, Ki67 expression, multifocal disease, and molecular subtype. In addition, multivariate analysis revealed that PMI/T4, not SMI/T11, was an independent prognostic factor for distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS) and overall survival (OS) in breast cancer patients.ConclusionsLow PMI/T4 is associated with worse DMFS and OS in breast cancer patients. Future prospective studies are needed.

Background The microsatellite instability (MSI) in colorectal cancer (CRC) has a more favorable clinical outcome and is characterized by highly upregulated expression of various immunological checkpoints than microsatellite stable (MSS) tumors. Apoptosis inhibitor of macrophage (AIM) is a circulating protein and circulates throughout the body to remove cellular debris. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between MSI status and AIM levels in CRC patients. Methods In this study, we evaluated the levels of AIM by Enzyme Linked Immuno-Sorbent Assay (ELISA) in serum of 430 CRC patients. All patients’ clinical and laboratory characteristics at initial diagnosis were collected. The relationship between AIM levels and MSI status was examined. Results 64 patients (14.9%) were identified as having MSI-H (high-frequency MSI) and 366 casess (85.1%) having MSS. Patients with an MSI-H phenotype had lower AIM levels compared with MSS patients. Moreover, AIM levels were correlated with histological type and MSI status. Logistic regression analysis revealed that decreased AIM levels were independently associated with MSI-H phenotype after adjusting confounding factors. Conclusion Reduced AIM levels are associated with MSI-H subtyping of CRC. Further research on the involvement of AIM in MSI-H CRC is needed.