Decreased cross-sectional muscle area in male patients with clear cell renal cell carcinoma and peritumoral collateral vessels

BACKGROUND: Sarcopenia is the loss of skeletal muscle mass (SMM) and is a sign of cancer cachexia. Patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC) may show cachexia. AIM: To evaluate the amount of SMM in male clear cell RCC (ccRCC) patients with and without collateral vessels. METHODS: In this study, we included a total of 124 male Caucasian patients divided into two groups: ccRCCa group without collateral vessels (n = 54) and ccRCCp group with collateral vessels (n = 70). Total abdominal muscle area (TAMA) was measured in both groups using a computed tomography imaging-based approach. TAMA measures were also corrected for age in order to rule out age-related effects. RESULTS: There was a statistically significant difference between the two groups in terms of TAMA (P < 0.05) driven by a reduction in patients with peritumoral collateral vessels. The result was confirmed by repeating the analysis with values corrected for age (P < 0.05), indicating no age effect on our findings. CONCLUSION: This study showed a decreased TAMA in ccRCC patients with peritumoral collateral vessels. The presence of peritumoral collateral vessels adjacent to ccRCC might be a fine diagnostic clue to sarcopenia.