The following is a summary of “Association of sarcopenia with oncologic outcomes of primary treatment among patients with oral cavity cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis,” published in the November 2023  issue of Oncology by Graves, et al.

For a systematic review and meta-analysis, researchers sought to investigate the influence of differences in radiographic sarcopenia evaluation techniques and pre-treatment sarcopenia on oncologic therapy results for patients with oral cavity cancer. 36% of patients were found to be sarcopenic, according to the findings of 12 investigations that included 1007 individuals. Several evaluation techniques were often employed, including the L3 skeletal muscle index and the C3 skeletal muscle index (to estimate the L3 skeletal muscle index). Cutoffs were frequently established at the lowest quartile of the skeletal muscle index. 

Sarcopenia patients had significantly lower overall survival (univariate: HR = 2.24, 95% CI: 1.71–2.93; multivariate: HR = 1.93, 95% CI: 1.47–2.52) and disease-free survival (univariate: HR = 2.10, 95% CI: 1.50–2.92; multivariate: HR = 1.79, 95% CI: 1.29–2.47), according to a meta-analysis of five studies that included 251 sarcopenic patients and 537 patients who did not have sarcopenia.

Therefore, it may be concluded that more than one-third of patients with oral cavity cancer may have sarcopenia. That pre-treatment sarcopenia is linked with considerably lower overall and disease-free survival. Taking into consideration the potential significance of diagnosing and treating sarcopenia in the treatment of cancer patients affecting the oral cavity is highlighted by this.

Source: sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1368837523003044