Background:The prevalence of malnutrition is very high in patients with cancer. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether or not a nutrition support team (NST) could benefit esophageal cancer patients undergoing chemoradiotherapy (CRT).Methods:Between June 2012 and April 2014, 50 esophageal cancer patients undergoing concurrent CRT were randomly assigned into two groups: The NST group and the control group. The nutritional statuses of 25 patients in the NST group were managed by the NST. The other 25 patients in the control group underwent the supervision of radiotherapy practitioners. At the end of the CRT, nutritional status, the incidence of complications, and completion rate of radiotherapy were evaluated. Besides, the length of hospital stay (LOS) and the in-patient cost were also compared between these two groups.Results:At the completion of CRF, the nutritional status in the NST group were much better than those in the control group, as evidenced by prealbumin (ALB), transferrin, and ALB parameters (P = 0.001, 0.000, and 0.000, respectively). The complication incidences, including bone marrow suppression (20% vs. 48%, P = 0.037) and complications related infections (12% vs. 44%, P = 0.012), in the NST group were lower and significantly different from the control group. In addition, only one patient in the NST group did not complete the planned radiotherapy while 6 patients in the control group had interrupted or delayed radiotherapy (96% vs. 76%, P = 0.103). Furthermore, the average LOS was decreased by 4.5 days (P = 0.001) and in-patient cost was reduced to 1.26 ± 0.75 thousand US dollars person-times (P > 0.05) in the NST group.Conclusions:A NST could provide positive effects in esophageal cancer patients during concurrent CRT on maintaining their nutrition status and improving the compliance of CRF. Moreover, the NST could be helpful on reducing LOS and in-patient costs.
BackgroundThe effect of sarcopenia on the clinical outcomes of patients with malignant neoplasms receiving immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) is unclear. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect and survival of patients with malignancies and sarcopenia receiving ICIs.MethodsWe systematically searched related studies in PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library up to March 2021 according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Information pertaining to the hazard ratio (HR) corresponding to 95% confidence interval (CI) of overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) as determined by univariate and multivariate analyses; the odds ratio (OR) corresponding to the 95% CI of the disease control rate (DCR) and objective response rate (ORR); and immune-related adverse events (irAEs) was collected and analyzed using the RevMan 5.4 software. Study heterogeneity and sensitivity were also assessed.ResultsA total of 19 studies were finalized that included 1763patients with lung, gastrointestinal, and head and neck cancers as well as those with melanoma, renal cell carcinoma, urothelial carcinoma, pancreatic cancer, and soft tissue sarcoma. According to univariate and multivariate analyses, patients with sarcopenia at pre-immunotherapy had poorer PFS and OS than those without. HRs and the corresponding 95% CI of PFS were 1.91(1.55–2.34, p <0.00001) and 1.46 (1.20–1.78, p =0.0001), respectively, and HRs and the corresponding 95% CI of OS were 1.78 (1.47–2.14, p <0.00001) and 1.73 (1.36–2.19, p <0.0001), respectively. Patients with sarcopenia showed poor PFS and OS during treatment. In addition, patients with sarcopenia had worse ORR (OR 0.46, 95% CI 0.28–0.74, p = 0.001) and DCR (OR 0.44, 95% CI 0.31–0.64, p<0.0001); however, the incidence of irAEs of any grade and high-grade in patients with sarcopenia did not increase, OR and the corresponding 95% CI were 0.58(0.30–1.12, p = 0.10) and 0.46(0.19–1.09, p = 0.08). Further, we performed subgroup analysis, skeletal muscle mass index (SMI) and psoas muscle mass index (PMI) stratification. In the SMI group, patients with sarcopenia had poor ORR, DCR, PFS, and OS than those without. In the PMI group, sarcopenia had poor ORR,DCR, and was a poor prognostic factor for PFS and OS according to univariate analysis but had no effect on PFS and OS according to multivariate analysis.ConclusionsPatients with malignancies and sarcopenia at pre-immunotherapy or follow-up visits had poorer clinical outcomes than those without, and sarcopenia was a poor predictive factor of ICI immunotherapy outcomes.
Background: Whether sarcopenia has an impact on immune-related adverse events (irAEs) in patients with malignant neoplasms receiving immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) is not consistent. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of sarcopenia on all grades of irAEs.Methods: PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library databases were systematically searched for related studies up to May 2021. Eligible studies were included according to the PICOS criteria. The risk of bias of the included studies was assessed according to the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS). The odds ratio (OR), corresponding to the 95% confidence interval (CI) of all grades of irAEs, was collected and analyzed, and a further subgroup analysis of serious adverse events was conducted. All analyses were conducted using the RevMan 5.4 software downloaded from the Cochrane website. The heterogeneity and sensitivity of the study were assessed.Results: Of the 135 references identified, only 8 studies were analyzed, including 519 patients comprising 250 with sarcopenia and 269 without sarcopenia. No obvious bias was observed in the included studies. An increased incidence of irAEs was not observed in patients with sarcopenia at pre-immunotherapy compared to those without sarcopenia. The OR and corresponding 95% CI were 0.97 and 0.62-1.53, respectively (P=0.90), with low heterogeneity (P=0.17, I 2 =32%). Further, severe adverse events were analyzed in three studies, and the results showed that sarcopenia was not related to irAEs (P=0.97). Conclusions:Malignancies with sarcopenia at pre-immunotherapy may not increase the incidence of irAEs, and sarcopenia may not be a predictive factor for irAEs.
BackgroundIt remains not well known whether skeletal muscle mass (SMM) loss has any impact on the effectiveness of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) in patients with advanced lung cancer. We aimed to evaluate the association between SMM and clinical outcome of patients with advanced lung cancer receiving ICIs as first line or second line.Materials and MethodsFrom March 1st, 2019 to March 31st, 2021 at our hospital, 34 patients with advanced lung cancer treated with first-line or second-line ICIs were enrolled retrospectively. The estimation of skeletal muscle index (SMI) for sarcopenia was assessed at the level of the third lumbar vertebra (L3) on computed tomography (CT) images obtained within 4 weeks before initiation of ICIs treatment. The impact of sarcopenia (low SMI) on progression free survival (PFS) was analyzed using Kaplan-Meier method and log-rank tests. The effect of various variables on PFS was evaluated using Cox proportional hazards regression model with univariate and multivariate analysis. The impact on treatment response including objective response rate (ORR) and disease control rate (DCR) and immunotherapy related adverse events (irAEs) between patients with and without sarcopenia was compared by the chi-squared test. The comparison of SMI value between patients with objective response (OR), disease control (DC) and those without OR and DC was used student t-test or Mann-Whitney U test.ResultsBoth in univariate and multivariate analysis, sarcopenia and treatment lines were the predictive factors for PFS (p < 0.05). Patients with sarcopenia had significantly shorter PFS than that of non-sarcopenic ones [6.57 vs. 16.2 months, hazard ratios (HR) = 2.947 and 3.542, and 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.123–13.183 and 1.11–11.308, p = 0.022 and 0.033]. No significant difference in ORR and irAEs was found. Patients with sarcopenia had lower DCR than those without sarcopenia. The mean SMI value of DCR group and non-DCR group was 32.94 ± 5.49 and 44.77 ± 9.06 cm2/m2, respectively (p = 0.008).ConclusionSarcopenia before immunotherapy might be a significant predictor for poor prognosis including shorter PFS and lower DCR in patients with advanced lung cancer treated with ICIs as first line or second line.
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