Abstract

Abstract Background Some studies reported the association of muscle mass or nutritional state with development of postoperative morbidity. However, it remains unknown whether body composition or nutritional state influences upon clinical outcome in esophageal cancer (EC) patients undergoing surgery following neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC). Methods A total of 100 EC patients who undergone NAC followed by curative surgical resection in our hospital from 2011 to 2013 was analyzed. The cross-sectional area of psoas was measured by computed tomography at third lumbar vertebra and the Psoas Muscle Index [PMI: total psoas area at L3/(height × height)] was calculated. Pre- and post-NAC PMI in addition to prognostic nutritional index (PNI), modified Glasgow prognostic scale (mGPS), and neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (N/L) as an inflammation or nutrition marker were evaluated in terms of their association with development of NAC adverse event, postoperative complications and long-term survival. Results The PMI significantly decreased during chemotherapy from 705.5 to 682.7 cm2/m2 (P = 0.0008). Pre-NAC PMI (low vs high group, cutoff: 6.36cm2/m2 for male, 3.92cm2/m2 for female) was significantly associated with serum albumin (3.5 vs 3.8g/dl P = 0.0064) and body mass index (19.6 vs 22.2kg/m2P < 0.001), and clinical response to NAC (response rate 66.7 vs 87.1% P = 0.02). Post-NAC PMI, meanwhile, correlated with development of postoperative pneumonia [Clavien-Dindo (C-D) classification grade > II] (35.0 vs 8.3% P = 0.0009) and expectoration disorder of sputum (C-D classification grade > III) (28.6 vs 10.5% P = 0.027) while neither pre- or post PMI were predictive of patient survival. Regarding serum nutritional markers, pre-NAC PNI and mGPS correlated with NAC-induced neutropenia [low vs high PNI (cutoff: 40): 100 vs 87% P = 0.019] and diarrhea (mGPS 0/1 vs 2: 27.4 vs 80.0% P = 0.017) while post-NAC mGPS (mGPS 0 vs 1/2) was predictive of development of postoperative pneumonia (11.5 vs 30.8%, P = 0.018) and expectoration disorder of sputum (10.7 vs 27.8%, P = 0.037), respectively. Notably, post-NAC mGPS (mGPS 0 vs 1/2: 76.4 vs 65.4%, P = 0.039) and N/L (N/L ≥ 2.5 vs < 2.5: 43.5 vs 82.1% P = 0.006) showed the significant association with 2-year overall survival. Conclusion Pre- and post-NAC PMI in addition to serum inflammation/nutrition markers might be clinically useful in predicting outcome of multidisciplinary treatments for EC patients. Disclosure All authors have declared no conflicts of interest.

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