Kohei Yamahara1, Akifumi Mizukoshi2, Kana Lee3, Satoshi Ikegami2. 1. Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Shizuoka City Shizuoka Hospital, 10-93 Oute-cho, Aoi-ku, Shizuoka, Shizuoka 420-8630, Japan. Electronic address: k_yamahara@ent.kuhp.kyoto-u.ac.jp. 2. Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Shizuoka City Shizuoka Hospital, 10-93 Oute-cho, Aoi-ku, Shizuoka, Shizuoka 420-8630, Japan. 3. Department of Otolaryngology, Shin-Suma General Hospital, Kobe, Hyogo 654-0048, Japan.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Although both sarcopenia and systemic inflammation affect the outcomes of head and neck cancer (HNC) patients, the association between sarcopenia and systemic inflammation and the combined prognostic effect of these factors in HNC patients remain unknown. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of sarcopenia with systemic inflammation on survival and disease control in HNC patients. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed medical records of HNC patients treated between 2009 and 2016. The skeletal muscle area was measured using a single computed tomography image slice at the level of the third cervical vertebra. A prognostic score (SPLR) was developed based on sarcopenia and the platelet-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), and its prognostic value was evaluated. RESULTS: Overall, 164 patients were enrolled. In the multivariate analysis, sarcopenia was significantly associated with poor overall survival (OS) (p < 0.01). However, neither sarcopenia nor a high PLR was an independent prognostic factor for disease-free survival (DFS) or locoregional recurrence-free survival (LRFS). A high PLR was an independent predictor for sarcopenia (p < 0.01). A high SPLR was associated with older age, lower serum hemoglobin, and lower body mass index (all p < 0.05). Multivariate analysis revealed that SPLR was a significant independent predictor of OS, DFS, and LRFS (all p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Systemic inflammation is significantly associated with sarcopenia. The survival and oncological effects of sarcopenia were enhanced when PLR was high. Thus, the combination of these two parameters may be useful for identifying HNC patients at a risk of poor survival outcomes.
OBJECTIVE: Although both sarcopenia and systemic inflammation affect the outcomes of head and neck cancer (HNC) patients, the association between sarcopenia and systemic inflammation and the combined prognostic effect of these factors in HNC patients remain unknown. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of sarcopenia with systemic inflammation on survival and disease control in HNC patients. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed medical records of HNC patients treated between 2009 and 2016. The skeletal muscle area was measured using a single computed tomography image slice at the level of the third cervical vertebra. A prognostic score (SPLR) was developed based on sarcopenia and the platelet-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), and its prognostic value was evaluated. RESULTS: Overall, 164 patients were enrolled. In the multivariate analysis, sarcopenia was significantly associated with poor overall survival (OS) (p < 0.01). However, neither sarcopenia nor a high PLR was an independent prognostic factor for disease-free survival (DFS) or locoregional recurrence-free survival (LRFS). A high PLR was an independent predictor for sarcopenia (p < 0.01). A high SPLR was associated with older age, lower serum hemoglobin, and lower body mass index (all p < 0.05). Multivariate analysis revealed that SPLR was a significant independent predictor of OS, DFS, and LRFS (all p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Systemic inflammation is significantly associated with sarcopenia. The survival and oncological effects of sarcopenia were enhanced when PLR was high. Thus, the combination of these two parameters may be useful for identifying HNC patients at a risk of poor survival outcomes.
Authors: Aniek T Zwart; Wolf Pörtzgen; Irene van Rijn-Dekker; Grigory A Sidorenkov; Rudi A J O Dierckx; Roel J H M Steenbakkers; Inge Wegner; Anouk van der Hoorn; Geertruida H de Bock; Gyorgy B Halmos Journal: J Clin Med Date: 2022-08-09 Impact factor: 4.964