C1q and mobility score in predicting sarcopenia in an Australian cohort of cancer surgery patients

Abstract

Background Sarcopenia has been shown to have significant adverse health outcomes in a range of patient populations. Particularly, sarcopenic patients having cancer surgery are a unique group who demonstrate poorer post‐operative outcomes. Currently, the gold standard in diagnosing sarcopenia is through the use of computed tomography. However, the widespread use of imaging to diagnose patients with sarcopenia is neither cost‐effective nor practical. Identifying a serum biomarker or a simple mobility scoring system as an alternative diagnostic tool may aid in identifying more patients at risk of sarcopenia. C1q, a novel biomarker, has previously been shown to correlate with sarcopenia. Similarly, we sought to explore whether mobility scores may provide a useful surrogate marker for sarcopenia. Methods This was a prospective cohort study of patients who presented for colorectal cancer surgery between the dates of 6/10/2016 and 4/10/2017 at John Hunter Hospital. Computed tomography was utilized to calculate the psoas area at the L3 spinal level. Pre‐operative blood samples were obtained for C1q analysis and de Morton Mobility Index (DEMMI) was also performed. Results A total of 51 patients were included in the study. The median age of the patients were 69 years old. We did not demonstrate a correlation between serum C1q and DEMMI scores with psoas area. Conclusion Our findings suggest that neither C1q nor DEMMI scores are correlated with psoas area in a colorectal cancer population.

Sarcopenia is a serious disease and should be taken seriously

“…also in this issue studied C1q in a relatively small population of colorectal cancer patients undergoing surgery. Most likely due to the small sample size, no statistically significant association was found 17 …”

“…Most likely due to the small sample size, no statistically significant association was found. 17 Healthcare professionals should be allowed to invest time in education and implementation of sarcopenia diagnostics and interventions, which include the purchase of equipment to measure muscle mass and strength. Diagnostics of muscle health should be integrated in primary care to enable early diagnoses and interventions to counteract sarcopenia.…”