Sarcopenia related to neoadjuvant chemotherapy and perioperative outcomes in resected gastric cancer: a multi-institutional analysis.

BACKGROUND: This study's objective was to evaluate the change in sarcopenia score following neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) and to correlate both sarcopenia and change in score with perioperative outcomes in patients with advanced resected gastric cancer.

METHODS: Multi-institutional analysis of patients with gastric cancer who underwent NAC and resection from 2000-2015 was performed. Demographic and perioperative data were included. Sarcopenia score was defined as CT measurement of total psoas muscle at L3, stratified by height (m). Sarcopenia was defined as a score <385 mm(2)/m(2) in women and <545 mm(2)/m(2) in men.

RESULTS: Of 36 patients, 19% were sarcopenic prior to NAC. Following NAC, 31% were sarcopenic, with 14% developing sarcopenia during NAC. One patient (3%) became non-sarcopenic. There were no significant differences in patient, disease, or surgery characteristics between patients who were sarcopenic vs. not. Patients with sarcopenia were more likely to have post-operative complications (P=0.05). There was no significant difference in hospital stay (P=0.7402) or survival (P=0.2317).

CONCLUSIONS: A significant number of patients with gastric cancer become sarcopenic during NAC. Although patients with sarcopenia were nearly twice as likely to develop post-operative complications, this did not appear to impact length of stay (LOS) or survival.