Prognostic Significance of Sarcopenia and Systemic Inflammatory Response in Patients With Esophageal Cancer

BACKGROUND/AIM: The association between the presence of sarcopenia and systemic inflammatory response is unclear in patients with esophageal cancer. This study was performed to investigate the relationship between sarcopenia and systemic inflammatory response and clarify the effect of these factors on the prognosis in patients with esophageal cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This study included 163 patients with esophageal cancer. The patients' body composition was assessed before esophagectomy using multifrequency bioelectrical impedance. The relationship between sarcopenia and inflammatory factors were investigated before surgery. RESULTS: Sarcopenia was significantly associated with a high C-reactive protein-to-albumin (CRP/Alb) ratio (p=0.046). Patients with sarcopenia significantly associated with worse overall survival (OS) (p=0.025) and tended to show a worse recurrence-free survival (RFS) (p=0.065). A high CRP/Alb ratio was significantly associated with worse OS and RFS. Multivariate analysis revealed that among all inflammatory factors, only a high CRP/Alb ratio was an independent prognostic factor for RFS (p=0.022). CONCLUSION: Sarcopenia is associated with systemic inflammatory response such as high CRP/Alb ratio, while the latter is an independent prognostic marker in patients with esophageal cancer.