Diagnosis of sarcopenia on thoracic computed tomography and its association with postoperative survival after anatomic lung cancer resection

Computer tomography-derived skeletal muscle index normalized for height in conjunction with muscle density enables single modality-based sarcopenia assessment that accounts for all diagnostic criteria and cutoff recommendations as per the widely accepted European consensus. Yet, the standard approach to quantify skeletal musculature at the third lumbar vertebra is limited for certain patient groups, such as lung cancer patients who receive chest CT for tumor staging that does not encompass this lumbar level. As an alternative, this retrospective study assessed sarcopenia in lung cancer patients treated with curative intent at the tenth thoracic vertebral level using appropriate cutoffs. We showed that skeletal muscle index and radiation attenuation at level T10 correlate well with those at level L3 (Pearson’s R = 0.82 and 0.66, p < 0.001). During a median follow-up period of 55.7 months, sarcopenia was independently associated with worse overall (hazard ratio (HR) = 2.11, 95%-confidence interval (95%-CI) = 1.38–3.23, p < 0.001) and cancer-specific survival (HR = 2.00, 95%-CI = 1.19–3.36, p = 0.009) of lung cancer patients following anatomic resection. This study highlights feasibility to diagnose sarcopenia solely by thoracic CT in accordance with the European consensus recommendations. The straightforward methodology offers easy translation into routine clinical care and potential to improve preoperative risk stratification of lung cancer patients scheduled for surgery.