T-stage-specific abdominal visceral fat, haematological nutrition indicators and inflammation as prognostic factors in patients with clear renal cell carcinoma

Abstract

Clear cell renal carcinoma (ccRCC) is the most common histological type of renal cancer and has the highest mortality. Several studies have been conducted on the relationship between adipose tissue and ccRCC prognosis, however, the results have been inconsistent to date. The current study aimed at establishing a link between abdominal fat composition and short-term prognosis in patients with ccRCC after T-stage stratification. We retrospectively analysed 250 patients with pathologically confirmed ccRCC (173 low T-stage and 77 high T-stage) in our hospital. The computed tomography (CT) images were evaluated using ImageJ. Then, subcutaneous and visceral fat areas (SFA and VFA), total fat areas (TFA) and the relative VFA (rVFA) were measured and computed. Meanwhile, biochemical indices of blood serum were analysed. The results showed that rVFA in low T-stage cohort who had a history of short-term postoperative complications were significantly lower than those who did not. No such association was observed in the high T-stage cohort. Further investigation revealed that the correlations between biochemical indexes and fat area-related variables varied across T-stage groups. As a result, rVFA is a reliable independent predictor of short-term prognosis in patients with low T-stage ccRCC but not in patients with high T-stage ccRCC.

Association between CT-based adipose variables, preoperative blood biochemical indicators and pathological T stage of clear cell renal cell carcinoma

“…Obesity has also been linked to the course and outcome of ccRCC, with abdominal fat influencing the occurrence and progression of the tumor [ 12 ]. Abdominal visceral fat has been identified as a reliable predictor of T stage in ccRCC [ 13 , 14 ]. Interaction between tumor cells and perirenal adipose tissue has been shown to facilitate ccRCC growth, invasion, and metastasis [ 15 ].…”