AUA 2017: Does sarcopenia impact oncologic outcomes in patients undergoing adjuvant chemotherapy following radical cystectomy?

Boston, MA (UroToday.com) This study extends the current knowledge on the prognostic impact of sarcopenia on oncologic outcomes. Sarcopenia has been used as a marker of frailty in predicting outcomes after renal and bladder surgeries. In this study, the total psoas area was measured as assessment for sarcopenia. Using statistical modeling, the authors arrived at a cutoff point of total psoas area of 8cm2/m2. Using this threshold, the authors assessed whether patients with or without sarcopenia undergoing RC with adjuvant chemotherapy had different prognosis. In their cohort of 148 patients, 51.3% were found to have sarcopenia, being more prevalent in males. Furthermore, patients with sarcopenia were found to have worse 5-year OS. On multivariate analysis, sarcopenia was found to be a significant predictor of overall survival in patients treated with RC and adjuvant chemotherapy.

An interesting finding was that compared to the patients receiving adjuvant chemotherapy, the patients who were observed had better overall survival. Although not reaching statistical significance, this proposes an intriguing new paradigm in using the lack of sarcopenia as a criterion for adjuvant chemotherapy. The results will need validation in prospective studies.

Presented by: Taylor Peak, MD

Written By: Roger Li MD Urologic Oncology Fellow, UT MD Anderson Cancer Center
Ashish M. Kamat MD Wayne B. Duddlesten Professor, UT MD Anderson Cancer Center

at the 2017 AUA Annual Meeting - May 12 - 16, 2017 – Boston, Massachusetts, USA