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@ARTICLE{Haehl:182795,
author = {E. Haehl$^*$ and L. Alvino and A. Rühle$^*$ and J. Zou$^*$
and A. Fabian$^*$ and A.-L. Grosu$^*$ and N. H. Nicolay$^*$},
title = {{S}arcopenia as a {P}rognostic {M}arker in {E}lderly {H}ead
and {N}eck {S}quamous {C}ell {C}arcinoma {P}atients
{U}ndergoing ({C}hemo-){R}adiation.},
journal = {Cancers},
volume = {14},
number = {22},
issn = {2072-6694},
address = {Basel},
publisher = {MDPI},
reportid = {DKFZ-2022-02927},
pages = {5536},
year = {2022},
note = {#LA:E055#},
abstract = {Sarcopenia is associated with reduced survival and
increased toxicity in malignant diseases. The prevalence of
sarcopenia increases with age and is an important cause of
functional decline. We analyzed sarcopenia and sarcopenia
dynamics in elderly head-and-neck squamous cell carcinoma
(HNSCC) patients undergoing (chemo)radiation. Skeletal
muscle mass of 280 elderly HNSCC-patients (>65 yrs)
receiving curative (chemo)radiation was manually outlined
and quantified on CT scans at the level of the C3 (C3MA).
Cross-sectional muscle area at L3 (L3MA) was calculated and
normalized to height (L3MI). Frequency distributions of
clinical parameters as well as overall survival (OS),
progression-free survival (PFS) and locoregional control
(LRC) were calculated regarding sarcopenia. Calculated L3MA
correlated with pretherapeutic hemoglobin-levels (ρ =
0.280) bodyweight (ρ = 0.702) and inversely with
patient-age (ρ = -0.290). Sarcopenic patients featured
larger tumors (T3/4 $69.0\%$ vs. $52.8\%,$ p < 0.001), a
higher burden of comorbidity (age-adjusted Charlson
Comorbidity Index 4.8 vs. 4.2, p = 0.015) and more severe
chronic toxicities (CTCAE grade 3/4 $24.0\%$ vs. $11.8\%,$ p
= 0.022). OS was significantly deteriorated in sarcopenic
patients with a median of 23 vs. 91 months (logrank p =
0.002) (HR 1.79, CI 1.22-2.60, p = 0.003) and sarcopenia
remained an independent prognostic factor for reduced OS in
the multivariate analysis (HR 1.64, CI 1.07-2.52, p =
0.023). After therapy, $33\%$ of previously non-sarcopenic
patients developed sarcopenia, while $97\%$ of pre-treatment
sarcopenic remained sarcopenic. Median bodyweight decreased
by $6.8\%,$ whereas median calculated L3MA decreased by
$2.4\%.$ In contrast to pretherapeutic, post-therapeutic
sarcopenia is no prognosticator for reduced OS.
Pretherapeutic sarcopenia is a significant prognostic factor
in elderly HNSCC patients undergoing (chemo-)radiation and
should be considered in pretherapeutic decision-making. Its
role as a predictive marker for tailored supportive
interventions merits further prospective evaluation.},
keywords = {HNSCC (Other) / elderly (Other) / head-and-neck cancer
(Other) / head-and-neck squamous cell carcinoma (Other) /
radiotherapy (Other) / sarcopenia (Other)},
cin = {FR01 / E055},
ddc = {610},
cid = {I:(DE-He78)FR01-20160331 / I:(DE-He78)E055-20160331},
pnm = {315 - Bildgebung und Radioonkologie (POF4-315)},
pid = {G:(DE-HGF)POF4-315},
typ = {PUB:(DE-HGF)16},
pubmed = {pmid:36428629},
doi = {10.3390/cancers14225536},
url = {https://inrepo02.dkfz.de/record/182795},
}