Skeletal muscle area predicts the outcomes of non-small-cell lung cancer after trimodality therapy

OBJECTIVES: Sarcopenia correlates with poor prognosis in various malignancies. However, the prognostic significance of sarcopenia remains to be determined in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer who undergo surgery after receiving neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (NACRT). METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the patients with stage II/III non-small-cell lung cancer who underwent surgery following NACRT. The paravertebral skeletal muscle area (SMA) (cm(2)) at the 12th thoracic vertebra level was measured. We calculated the SMA index (SMAI) as SMA/squared height (cm(2)/m(2)). Patients were divided into low and high SMAI groups, and the association of SMAI with clinicopathological factors and prognosis was assessed. RESULTS: The patients’ [men, 86 (81.1%)] median age was 63 (21–76) years. There were 106 patients including 2 (1.9%), 10 (9.4%), 74 (69.8%), 19 (17.9%) and 1 (0.9%) patients with stage IIA, IIB, IIIA, IIIB and IIIC, respectively. Of the patients, 39 (36.8%) and 67 (63.2%) were classified in the low and the high SMAI groups, respectively. Kaplan–Meier analysis showed that the low group had a significantly shorter overall survival and disease-free survival than the high group. Multivariable analysis identified low SMAI as an independent poor prognostic factor for overall survival. CONCLUSIONS: Pre-NACRT SMAI correlates with poor prognosis; therefore, assessing sarcopenia based on pre-NACRT SMAI may help determine optimal treatment strategies and suitable nutritional and exercise interventions.