Impact of osteosarcopenia on short- and long-term outcomes in patients with gastric cancer.

Backgrounds: Osteopenia and sarcopenia are associated with adverse clinical outcomes. This study investigated the impact of osteosarcopenia on short- and long-term outcomes after gastrectomy for gastric cancer.

Methods: The present study included patients who underwent gastrectomy for gastric cancer. Osteopenia was evaluated by bone mineral density measurement in the midvertebral core of the 11th thoracic vertebra on preoperative computed tomography images. Sarcopenia was evaluated by measuring the skeletal muscle cross-sectional area at the third lumbar vertebra level. Osteosarcopenia was defined as the coexistence of osteopenia and sarcopenia. We investigated the relationship of preoperative osteosarcopenia with short- and long-term outcomes after gastrectomy for gastric cancer.

Results: Of all 122 patients, 38 (31%) patients were diagnosed with osteosarcopenia. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that osteosarcopenia (P = .008) was an independent risk factor for postoperative complications. Furthermore, multivariate Cox regression analysis revealed that male sex (P = .007), and osteosarcopenia (P = .038) were independent predictors of disease-free survival, while osteosarcopenia (P = .045) and pathological T stage ≥3 (P = .033) were independent predictors of overall survival.

Conclusions: Osteosarcopenia was a strong predictor of short- and long-term outcomes after gastrectomy for gastric cancer. Preoperative screening of osteosarcopenia may be helpful for better management of patients with gastric cancer.