Low skeletal muscle mass contributes to the prognosis of patients with superficial esophageal cancer treated with definitive chemoradiotherapy.

Abstract

Background: Herein, we aimed to examine the relationship between sarcopenia, neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), Charlson comorbidity index (CCI), and prognostic nutritional index (PNI) in patients with superficial esophageal carcinoma who underwent definitive chemoradiotherapy (CRT).

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 100 patients (87 males) diagnosed with cT1N0M0 esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. The included patients underwent CRT as an initial treatment. Muscle mass was assessed using the psoas muscle index (PMI). All patients received concurrent chemotherapy (5-fluorouracil plus cisplatin/nedaplatin) and radiotherapy (60 Gy). The duration of follow-up (median range) was 78 (2.5-197) months. During the follow-up period, 23 recurrences occurred, along with 37 deaths (11 deaths from esophageal cancer; only one treatment-related death).

Results: The 5-year survival rate was 78.0%. The median (range) PMI was 6.55 (3.90-10.9) and 4.62 (2.28-6.60) cm²/m² in males and females, respectively. The PNI was 46.6 (36.2-60.4), NLR was 2.45 (0.61-18.1), and CCI was 0 (0-10). Patients were divided into low PMI (sarcopenia) and high PMI (non-sarcopenia) groups. In the univariate survival time analysis, the low PMI group had a significant hazard ratio (HR) of 2.70 (p = 0.0049), the low Geriatric Nutritional Risk Index (GNRI) group had an HR of 2.30 (p = 0.0161), and the CCI ≥ 1 group had an HR of 2.19 (p = 0.0199). According to the multivariate analysis using these three factors and age (≥ 65 years), PMI was an independent prognostic factor (HR, 2.23; p = 0.0313).

Conclusions: PMI is a notable predictor of prognosis in patients undergoing CRT for T1N0M0 esophageal cancer.