Comorbidity and Prognostic Impact of Sarcopenia in Patients with Advanced Non-small-cell Lung Cancer

Abstract

━━ Objective. This study clarified the details concerning sarcopenia as a comorbidity and the relationship between sarcopenia and the prognosis in patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer. Study Design. We retrospectively studied 39 patients with stage IV advanced non-small-cell lung cancer and an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group Performance Status of 0-1. After classifying patients into the non-sarcopenia or sarcopenia group based on their grip strength, gait speed, and psoas muscle index, the proportion in the sarcopenia group was determined. The overall survival (OS) was then compared between patients with and without sarcopenia and by the severity of sarcopenia. Results. Sarcopenia was a comorbidity in 41%, and the sarcopenia group had a sig-nificantly worse OS than the non-sarcopenia group (median, 11.0 vs. 17.9 months, p<0.05). Furthermore, the OS de-creased with increasing severity of sarcopenia (log-rank test for trend, p<0.05). Conclusion. In advanced non-small-cell lung cancer, the rate of sarcopenia comorbidity is high, even in patients with a good Performance Status, and an accurate evaluation of sarcopenia is necessary to predict the prognosis