Clinical Significance of Sarcopenia among Patients with Advanced Oropharyngeal Cancer

ObjectivesWe investigated the prevalence and impact of sarcopenia on disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) in advanced oropharyngeal cancer.Study DesignRetrospective study.SettingSingle-institution tertiary cancer care center.Subjects and MethodsWe identified patients with advanced oropharyngeal cancer with pretreatment positron emission tomography–computed tomography scans for image analysis. Data were collected on the following variables: age, sex, smoking and alcohol status, stage (TNM and American Joint Committee on Cancer), human papillomavirus (HPV) status, body mass index (BMI), and treatment modality.ResultsOf 113 patients identified with oropharyngeal cancer, 32 had sarcopenia: these patients were older (63.5 vs 57.6 years, P = .01), were less likely to be male (53.1% vs 76.5%, P = .03), and had a lower mean BMI (24.5 vs 28.4 kg/m2, P = .009). Eighty-five subjects had HPV-positive disease, and they had a higher BMI (28.2 vs 24.2 kg/m2, P = .01) than that of patients without HPV. T...