Sarcopenia as a predictor of survival in patients with epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) receiving platinum and taxane-based chemotherapy.

Abstract

e17030 Background: Severe skeletal muscle loss (sarcopenia) is associated with poor cancer outcomes, including reduced survival and increased treatment toxicity. This relationship has recently been demonstrated in women with metastatic breast cancer, but there is a paucity of data regarding this correlation in women with EOC. Thus, our goal was to evaluate if sarcopenia, as assessed by computed tomography (CT) morphometric measurements, was associated with worse survival outcomes in EOC patients undergoing primary platinum and taxane-based chemotherapy. Methods: EOC patients diagnosed between 06/2000 and 02/2017 who received treatment with platinum and taxane-based chemotherapy were included. CT abdominal images closest to the time of diagnosis were retrospectively evaluated for skeletal muscle area at the 3rd lumbar vertebrae. Measurements were obtained with use of TomoVision® radiological software (SliceOmatic – version 5.0, Quebec, Canada). Sarcopenia was defined as Skeletal Muscle Index (SMI = SMA/height2) ≤ 41. Data analysis included Kaplan-Meier plots to assess survival, and descriptive statistics was utilized to describe characteristics between the two groups. Results: 201 EOC patients were evaluated. Sixty-four percent (128/201) met criteria for sarcopenia (SMI ≤ 41) at time of diagnosis. Seventy-six percent of patients were diagnosed with Stage III or IV disease, with high-grade serous as the most common histology (74%). Median age at diagnosis was 61 years. Approximately one third were obese. Body mass index was greater in the SMI > 41 group compared to the SMI ≤ 41 group (31.3 vs 26.3, p < 0.001). There was no difference in the prevalence of chronic conditions, including diabetes, coronary artery disease, hypertension, chronic kidney disease, or tobacco use, between the two groups. The mean overall survival did not differ between patients with SMI > 41 and SMI ≤ 41 (36.5 vs 40.8 months, p = 0.4, respectively). Conclusions: Based on this patient cohort, sarcopenia was not associated with worse survival outcomes in EOC patients receiving first-line platinum and taxane-based chemotherapy. Further prospective studies are needed to explore other diagnostics that may allow us to provide improved accuracy and individualization in the care of women with advanced ovarian cancer.

Impact of CT-Determined Sarcopenia and Body Composition on Survival Outcome in Patients with Advanced-Stage High-Grade Serous Ovarian Carcinoma

“…Previous studies have suggested sarcopenia as a prognostic factor associated with poor survival and increased resistance and toxicity to chemotherapy in patients with various malignancies, including breast, small cell lung, urothelial, and gastric cancers [5][6][7][8]. In ovarian cancer, conflicting results have been reported: while some studies concluded that sarcopenia adversely affected patients' progression-free survival (PFS) or overall survival (OS) [9,10], others could not determine a significant association of sarcopenia with survival outcomes [11,12]. There were differences in study design, population, disease setting, and definition of sarcopenia among the studies; therefore, careful attention is required to interpret the study results.…”