Prevalence of Four Sarcopenia Criteria in Older Patients with Cancer, and Their Predictive Value for 6-Month Mortality: The NutriAgeCancer National Prospective Cohort Study

Claudia Martinez-Tapia, Kevin Rougette, Virginie Fossey-Diaz, Tristan Cudennec, Cherifa Taleb, Laurent Balardy, Cécile Mertens, Nathalie Mitha, Michael Bringuier, Karin Maley, Sandrine Estivin, Valérie Quipourt, Florence Canoui-Poitrine, Capucine Baldini, Johanne Poisson, Elena Paillaud

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    Abstract

    Older cancer patients have an elevated risk of sarcopenia. The aim was to estimate the prevalence of four criteria for sarcopenia case finding, assessment, diagnosis, and severity determination: abnormal strength, assistance with walking, rising from a chair, climbing stairs, and falls (SARC-F), low hand-grip strength (HGS), low arm circumference (AC, a muscle mass proxy), and low physical performance (PP). Sarcopenia (low HGS and AC) and severe sarcopenia (low HGS, AC, and PP) and their predictive values for 6-month mortality were estimated in the whole population and by metastatic status. We analyzed data from the NutriAgeCancer French nationwide study of cancer patients aged ≥70 referred for geriatric assessment before anti-cancer treatment. We performed Cox proportional hazards analysis for each criterion separately and all criteria combined. Overall, 781 patients from 41 geriatric oncology clinics were included (mean age: 83.1; females: 53%; main cancer types: digestive (29%) and breast (17%); metastases: 42%). The prevalence of abnormal SARC-F, low HGS, a low AC, low PP, sarcopenia, and severe sarcopenia were, respectively, 35.5%, 44.6%, 44.7%, 35.2%, 24.5%, and 11.7%. An abnormal SARC-F and/or low HGS, sarcopenia, and severe sarcopenia were associated with 6-month mortality in patients with metastases (adjusted hazard ratios [95% confidence interval]: 2.72 [1.34–5.49], 3.16 [1.48–6.75] and 6.41 [2.5–16.5], respectively). Sarcopenia was strongly predictive of 6-month mortality in patients with metastatic cancer.

    Original languageEnglish
    Article number1508
    JournalNutrients
    Volume15
    Issue number6
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 1 Mar 2023

    Keywords

    • assessment criteria
    • cancer
    • mortality
    • older adult
    • sarcopenia

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