Association of Sarcopenia and Expression of Interleukin-16 in Gastric Cancer Survival

Abstract

We designed the present work to explore the connection between sarcopenia and interleukin-16 (IL-16) expression and their integrated relation with gastric cancer (GC) survival. We deemed the sex-specific third lumbar vertebra skeletal muscle index cutoffs for sarcopenia to be ≤40.8 and ≤34.9 cm2/m2 in male and female patients, respectively. Immunohistochemistry was carried out to detect IL-16 levels among GC tissues of the patients. We determined overall survival (OS) and relapse-free survival (RFS) by univariate and multivariate analyses. This study included 225 GC cases, with an average age of 62.7 years. There were 41 (18.2%) female patients, and 107 (47.5%) patients had sarcopenia. Sarcopenia and high IL-16 expression were identified as independent factors to predict OS (hazard ratios [HR] = 1.64 and 1.79, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.25–2.23 and 1.16–2.78, respectively) and RFS (HR = 1.43 and 1.60, 95% CI = 1.15–2.95 and 1.10–2.37, respectively). There were more cases showing high IL-16 expression detected in the sarcopenia group (55.7% vs. 37.3%, p = 0.003). Later, we grouped the patients with sarcopenia and IL-16 expression and discovered that the patients with sarcopenia and IL-16 upregulation displayed the poorest OS (HR = 3.02; 95% CI = 1.64–5.91) and RFS (HR = 2.34; 95% CI = 1.47–4.69). In conclusion, more IL-16 upregulation was noted in GC patients with sarcopenia. Sarcopenia accompanied by high IL-16 expression remarkably indicates a dismal prognosis in GC patients. This suggests that these biomarkers may be able to identify patients with GC with poor prognosis and enhance prognostication.

Prognostic role of pretreatment skeletal muscle index in gastric cancer patients: A meta-analysis

“…Then 47 potentially relevant publications were further reviewed and ten records were excluded. Eventually, 29 articles were included ( 21 – 49 ). However, in the studies conducted by ( 29 ) and Wang et al ( 32 ), two different populations were enrolled.…”

“…All included studies explored the predictive role of pretreatment SMI for OS of gastric cancer patients ( 21 – 49 ). The pooled results demonstrated that lower pretreatment SMI was significantly associated with poorer OS (HR = 1.53, 95% CI: 1.36–1.72, p < 0.001; I 2 = 85.0%, p < 0.001) ( Figure 2 ).…”

“…Only 13 included studies involving 5,803 patients explored the predictive role of pretreatment SMI for DFS ( 22 , 23 , 26 , 32 , 34 – 37 , 40 , 41 , 47 , 49 ). The pooled results indicated that lower pretreatment SMI was related with worse DFS (HR = 1.39, 95% CI: 1.13–1.69, p < 0.001; I 2 = 58.5%, p = 0.004) ( Figure 3 ).…”

Exploring the causal link between circulating cytokines and sarcopenia traits: A Mendelian randomization analysis

“…Few experimental studies have been performed correlation between IL‐16 and sarcopenia, but our current MR analysis determined that high levels of circulating IL‐16 were associated with an increased risk of sarcopenia (both ALM and grip strength). A recent study revealed that the upregulation of IL‐16 and sarcopenia was evident in gastric cancer patients 48 …”

“…A recent study revealed that the upregulation of IL-16 and sarcopenia was evident in gastric cancer patients. 48 Previous studies have also shown that the regulation of hypoxia signaling changes with aging 49 and that VEGFA, a key target of the hypoxia signaling pathway, 50 may affect how quickly skeletal muscles regenerate and the risk of sarcopenia. 51 Therefore, we suggested that a decrease in VEGF in skeletal muscle may be the cause of the decline in regeneration capacity with age.…”