Vittorio Ruggero Zilioli1, Domenico Albano2, Annalisa Arcari3, Francesco Merli4, Alessandra Coppola5, Giulia Besutti6,7, Luigi Marcheselli8, Doriana Gramegna9, Cristina Muzi1, Moana Manicone7,10, Manuela Camalori5, Patrizia Ciammella10, Giuseppe Colloca11, Alessandra Tucci9. 1. Division of Hematology, ASST Grande Ospedale Metropolitano Niguarda, Milan, Italy. 2. Division of Nuclear Medicine, ASST Spedali Civili, Brescia, Italy. 3. Division of Hematology, Ospedale Guglielmo da Saliceto, Piacenza, Italy. 4. Division of Hematology, Azienda USL-IRCCS di Reggio Emilia, Reggio Emilia, Italy. 5. Division of Radiology, ASST Grande Ospedale Metropolitano Niguarda, Milan, Italy. 6. Division of Radiology, Azienda USL-IRCCS di Reggio Emilia, Reggio Emilia, Italy. 7. Clinical and Experimental PhD Program, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy. 8. Fondazione Italiana Linfomi Onlus, Trial Office Modena, Modena, Italy. 9. Division of Hematology, ASST Spedali Civili, Brescia, Italy. 10. Division of Radiotherapy, Azienda USL-IRCCS di Reggio Emilia, Reggio Emilia, Italy. 11. Division of Geriatrics, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli, IRCCS, Rome, Italy.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Elderly classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL) (ecHL) is a rare disease with dismal prognosis and no standard treatment. Fitness-based approaches may help design appropriate treatments. Sarcopenia has been associated with an increased risk of treatment-related toxicities and worse survival in various solid tumours, but its impact in ecHL is unknown. The aim of this retrospective multicentre study was to investigate the prognostic role of sarcopenia in ecHL. METHODS: We included newly diagnosed >64 years old cHL patients who performed a baseline comprehensive geriatric assessment and high-dose computed tomography (CT) or 18fluorine-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/CT before any treatment. Sarcopenia was measured as skeletal muscle index (SMI, cm2 /m2 ) by the analysis of high-dose CT or low-dose positron emission tomography/CT images at the L3 level. The specific cut-offs for the SMI were determined by receiver operator curve analysis and compared with those proposed in literature and studied in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. Survival functions [progression-free survival [PFS] and overall survival (OS)] were calculated for the whole population and for different subgroups defined as per different sarcopenia cut-off levels. RESULTS: We included 154 patients (median age 71 years old, 76 female). The median L3-SMI was 42 cm2 /m2 . The specific cut-off derived in our male population was 45 cm2 /m2 ; using this cut-off, 27 male patients (35%) were defined as sarcopenic. After a median follow-up of 5.9 years, the overall 5-year PFS and OS rates were 53% and 65%, respectively, and were significantly shorter in sarcopenic male patients compared with non-sarcopenic (PFS 31% vs. 61%, P = 0.008; OS 51% vs. 74%, P = 0.042). Applying diffuse large B-cell lymphoma-derived sarcopenic thresholds, there were no significant differences between sarcopenic and non-sarcopenic patients for both PFS and OS, with a sole exception of a significant reduced PFS in sarcopenic male patients using Namakura cut-off. The comprehensive geriatric assessment-determined frail functional status was an independent adverse prognostic factor for both female and male patients. CONCLUSIONS: Baseline evaluation of sarcopenia through radiological examinations performed for ecHL staging may help define a proportion of male patients with unfavourable outcome with current treatment strategies. Also the functional status evaluation could allow to identify a frail subgroup of patients with worse outcome.
BACKGROUND: Elderly classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL) (ecHL) is a rare disease with dismal prognosis and no standard treatment. Fitness-based approaches may help design appropriate treatments. Sarcopenia has been associated with an increased risk of treatment-related toxicities and worse survival in various solid tumours, but its impact in ecHL is unknown. The aim of this retrospective multicentre study was to investigate the prognostic role of sarcopenia in ecHL. METHODS: We included newly diagnosed >64 years old cHL patients who performed a baseline comprehensive geriatric assessment and high-dose computed tomography (CT) or 18fluorine-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/CT before any treatment. Sarcopenia was measured as skeletal muscle index (SMI, cm2 /m2 ) by the analysis of high-dose CT or low-dose positron emission tomography/CT images at the L3 level. The specific cut-offs for the SMI were determined by receiver operator curve analysis and compared with those proposed in literature and studied in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. Survival functions [progression-free survival [PFS] and overall survival (OS)] were calculated for the whole population and for different subgroups defined as per different sarcopenia cut-off levels. RESULTS: We included 154 patients (median age 71 years old, 76 female). The median L3-SMI was 42 cm2 /m2 . The specific cut-off derived in our male population was 45 cm2 /m2 ; using this cut-off, 27 male patients (35%) were defined as sarcopenic. After a median follow-up of 5.9 years, the overall 5-year PFS and OS rates were 53% and 65%, respectively, and were significantly shorter in sarcopenic malepatients compared with non-sarcopenic (PFS 31% vs. 61%, P = 0.008; OS 51% vs. 74%, P = 0.042). Applying diffuse large B-cell lymphoma-derived sarcopenic thresholds, there were no significant differences between sarcopenic and non-sarcopenicpatients for both PFS and OS, with a sole exception of a significant reduced PFS in sarcopenic malepatients using Namakura cut-off. The comprehensive geriatric assessment-determined frail functional status was an independent adverse prognostic factor for both female and male patients. CONCLUSIONS: Baseline evaluation of sarcopenia through radiological examinations performed for ecHL staging may help define a proportion of male patients with unfavourable outcome with current treatment strategies. Also the functional status evaluation could allow to identify a frail subgroup of patients with worse outcome.