The possible relation between temporal muscle mass and glioblastoma multiforme prognosis via sarcopenia perspective

BACKGROUND AND AIM: The optimal sarcopenia measurement method in patients with a diagnosis of glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is unknown. It has been found that temporal muscle thickness (TMT) may reflect sarcopenia and be associated with survival, but the relationship between temporal muscle area (TMA) and GBM prognosis has never been evaluated before. The primary outcome of the study was to evaluate the relationship between TMA/TMT and overall survival (OS) time in newly diagnosed GBM patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The data of patients who presented at the university hospital between January 2009 and January 2019 with a confirmed diagnosis of glioblastoma multiforme at the time of diagnosis were analyzed retrospectively. Temporal muscle thickness and TMA were measured retrospectively from preoperative MRIs of patients diagnosed with GBM. Due to the small number of patients and the failure to determine a cut-off value with acceptable sensitivity and specificity using ROC analysis, the median values were chosen as the cut-off value. The patients were basically divided into two according to their median TMT (6.6 mm) or TMA (452 mm(2)) values, and survival analysis was performed with the Kaplan–Meier analysis. RESULTS: The median TMT value was 6.6 mm, and the median TMA value was 452 mm(2). The median overall survival (OS) was calculated as 25.8 months in patients with TMT < 6.6 mm, and 15.8 months in patients with TMT ≥ 6.6 mm (p = 0.29). The median overall survival (OS) of patients with TMA < 452mm(2) was 26.3 months, and the group with TMA ≥ 452mm(2) was 14.6 months (p = 0.06). The median disease-free survival was 18.3 months (%95 CI: 13.2–23.4) in patients with TMT < 6.6mm, while mDFS was 10.9 (%95 CI: 8.0–13.8) months in patients with TMT ≥ 6.6mm (p = 0.21). The median disease-free survival was found to be 21.0 months (%95 CI: 15.8–26.1) in patients with TMA < 452 mm(2) and 10.5 months (%95 CI: 7.8–13.2) in patients with TMA ≥ 452 mm(2) (p = 0.018). CONCLUSION: No association could be demonstrated between TMT or TMA and OS of GBM patients. In addition, the median DFS was found to be longer in patients with low TMA. There is an unmet need to determine the optimal method of sarcopenia in GBM patients.