Published in:
01-07-2021 | NSCLC | Original Article
The prognostic impact of sarcopenia on elderly patients undergoing pulmonary resection for non-small cell lung cancer
Authors:
Akihiro Miura, Hiromasa Yamamoto, Hiroki Sato, Yasuaki Tomioka, Toshio Shiotani, Ken Suzawa, Kentaroh Miyoshi, Shinji Otani, Mikio Okazaki, Seiichiro Sugimoto, Masaomi Yamane, Shinichi Toyooka
Published in:
Surgery Today
|
Issue 7/2021
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Abstract
Purpose
The number of elderly patients who undergo surgery is increasing, even though they are at a high risk due to a decreased physical strength. Furthermore, sarcopenia is generally associated with a poor prognosis in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
Methods
This study included NSCLC patients ≥ 65 years old who underwent pulmonary resection in our hospital between 2012 and 2015. Sarcopenia was assessed using the psoas muscle mass index based on computed tomography at the level of the third lumbar vertebra. We elucidated the impact of sarcopenia on short- and long-term outcomes after surgery.
Results
We enrolled 259 patients, including 179 with sarcopenia. Patients with sarcopenia before surgery tended to have postoperative complications (p = 0.0521), although they did not show a poor prognosis. In patients with sarcopenia, a multivariate analysis revealed that postoperative complications and the progression of sarcopenia 1 year after surgery were significant risk factors for a poor prognosis (p = 0.0169 and 0.00370, respectively).
Conclusions
The progression of sarcopenia after surgery is associated with a poor prognosis in elderly NSCLC patients with sarcopenia. A strategy to prevent postoperative progressive sarcopenia may be necessary for improving the clinical outcome of this population.