Relationship between neoadjuvant chemotherapy dose and sarcopenia in elderly patients with locally advanced esophageal cancer
Objective:To explore the relationship between the relative dose intensity of neoadjuvant chemotherapy drugs and the sarcopenia in elderly patients with locally advanced esophageal cancer(LAEC).Methods:A retrospective cohort study was conducted between January 2018 and December 2020 in the Department of Thoracic Surgery,Hebei General hospital.A total of 126 LAEC patients aged≥65 years who underwent radical esophageal cancer resection after NAC were enrolled in this study.Skeletal muscle mass index was calculated from computed tomography(CT)images at the level of the third lumbar vertebra(L3).Sarcopenia was defined using the Youden index of skeletal muscle mass.The average relative dose of the drug was calculated basing on the actual dose intensity and standard dose intensity of the drug.Multivariate Logistic regression was used to analyze the independent risk factors of low relative dose intensity(RDI),and Cox survival analysis was used to evaluate the effect of low RDI on prognosis.Results:126 patients were retrospectively analyzed,in which 46 patients had sarcopenia and 80 patients had no sarcopenia.The presence of sarcopenia was associated with low RDI and was varied following age,gender,body mass index,drug treatment regimen,clinical stage and creatinine clearance(OR:2.193,95%CI:1.107~4.411,P=0.022).After the first cycle of chemotherapy,sarcopenic patients with a lower mean RDI had a higher rate of chemotherapy dose reduction,delay,or discontinuation due to neutropenia compared with non-sarcopenic patients(41.9%vs 39.0%),and the physical fitness was significantly declined(9.7%vs 0%).Low average RDI was an independent influencing factor for recurrence-free survival in the patients.Conclusions:Sarcopenia could be a predictor for reduced mean RDI of NAC in elderly patients with LAEC.The findings have implications for improving the clinical outcomes of patients with esophageal cancer.