Effect of Radiologically Evaluated Sarcopenia on Survival in Advanced Pancreatic Cancer

Objective: Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest cancers. The 5-year survival rate in advanced pancreatic cancer is 2%. The presence of sarcopenia in advanced pancreatic cancer is associated with negative outcomes. Although there are many measurements for the diagnosis of sarcopenia, there is still no standard method. In our study, the effect of radiological measurement of sarcopenia on the results of pancreatic cancer was investigated.
Methods: Seventy-four patients were retrospectively evaluated. Demographic data and laboratory and imaging parameters of the patients were recorded and analyzed using the SPSS 25 program.
Results: The mean age was 64.4 years, and the mean body mass index (BMI) was 25.5 kg/m2. 58.1% of the patients were male. mOS was 9.3±2.4 months in patients with sarcopenia detected with Psoas muscle density (PMD) Hounsfield unit avarage calculation, and 16.1 16.1±1.5 months in those without (*p=0.002). mOS was 5.6±1.6 months in patients with sarcopenia detected with PMI and 16.1 16.1±1.5 months in those without (*p<0.0001). Age, gender, BMI, hemoglobin, CA19-9, and albumin levels did not affect overall survival.
Conclusion: Overall survival is significantly lower in patients with radiologically detected sarcopenia with PMD and PMI. The use of PMI and PMD is an effective method for radiological evaluation of sarcopenia.