Sarcopenia and myosteatosis diagnostic tool for gastrointestinal cancer: creatinine to cystatin C ratio as evaluation marker

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to develop a simplified diagnostic tool for assessing sarcopenia and myosteatosis in gastrointestinal cancer patients, focusing on the creatinine to cystatin C ratio (CCR) as an evaluation marker. METHODS: 955 patients were split into training (n = 671) and validation (n = 284) cohorts. Using logistic regression, risk factors for sarcopenia and myosteatosis were identified. The predictive capacity of the developed model was examined. The association between CCR and muscle imaging parameters, along with its impact on clinical outcomes, was analyzed. RESULTS: No significant differences were observed in baseline traits between cohorts. CCR emerged as a significant risk factor for both sarcopenia and myosteatosis. Nomograms for diagnosing these conditions demonstrated strong predictive ability, with AUC values indicating high accuracy (sarcopenia AUC: 0.865–0.872; myosteatosis AUC: 0.848–0.849). The clinical utility of the nomograms was confirmed through decision curve analysis. CCR showed significant association with muscle imaging parameters and was a reliable indicator for assessing the risk of sarcopenia, myosteatosis, and cachexia. Moreover, CCR was able to differentiate between patient survival and disease progression rates. CONCLUSION: A diagnostic tool for sarcopenia and myosteatosis in gastrointestinal cancer patients was developed, with CCR being a pivotal biomarker for disease diagnosis and prognosis prediction. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT: [Image: see text] SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12967-023-04628-z.