SynthesisAging clinical and experimental research2022
Older cancer patients receiving radiotherapy: a systematic review for the role of sarcopenia in treatment outcomes.
Synthesis in Aging clinical and experimental research, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 21 citations in OpenAlex.
- Prevalence of sarcopenia in Africa: a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies.Aging clinical and experimental research · 2024Pooled it
- Sarcopenic obesity and therapeutic outcomes in gastrointestinal surgical oncology: A meta-analysis.Frontiers in nutrition · 2022Pooled it
- Impact of radiotherapy on quality of life reported by elderly patients.Clinical & translational oncology : official publication of the Federation of Spanish Oncology Societies and of the National Cancer Institute of Mexico · 2026Article
- Clinical and treatment-related predictors of complete response after total neoadjuvant therapy for rectal cancer in a large multicenter analysis.Clinical and translational radiation oncology · 2026Article
- Sarcopenia and cancer outcomes: thresholds need to account for age-related changes in muscle mass.British journal of cancer · 2026Article
- Exploration of Predictive Factors for Acute Radiotherapy-Induced Gastro-Intestinal Symptoms in Prostate Cancer Patients.Cancers · 2025Article
- Analysis of clinical factors and inflammatory cytokines in patients with lung cancer and sarcopenia: a prospective single-center cohort study.Frontiers in oncology · 2025Article
- Association of body composition and systemic inflammation for patients with locally advanced cervical cancer following concurrent chemoradiotherapyDiagnostic and interventional radiology (Ankara, Turkey) · 2024Article
- Low skeletal muscle mass as a proxy marker of sarcopenia is a risk factor for major complications in older patients undergoing curative colon resections for colon cancer.Frontiers in medicine · 2024Article
- Prognostic value of low muscle mass at the 12Diagnostic and interventional radiology (Ankara, Turkey) · 2023Article
- Preoperative low absolute and relative handgrip strength as predictors of postoperative short-term outcomes: a prospective study based on patients aged 60 years and older with gastric cancer.European geriatric medicine · 2023Observational
- Article
- Sarcopenia as a Predictor of Short- and Long-Term Outcomes in Patients Surgically Treated for Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma.Cancers · 2022Article
- Muscular Ultrasonography in Morphofunctional Assessment of Patients with Oncological Pathology at Risk of Malnutrition.Nutrients · 2022Article
- Meta-research in geriatric medicine: tips from an associate editor.Aging clinical and experimental research · 2022Article
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundPrevious studies have evaluated the prognostic effects of sarcopenia in cancer patients receiving various treatments, including chemotherapy and surgery, but few studies have focused on radiotherapy (RT).
aimsWe aimed to investigate the prevalence of sarcopenia and the relationship between sarcopenia and outcomes in older cancer patients who underwent RT without chemotherapy.
methodsA systematic review of the literature was conducted in Pubmed/Medline and Cochrane databases in September 2021. We used the search terms and medical subject heading terms "sarcopenia," "low muscle mass (LMM)," "low muscle strength," "LMM and low muscle strength," "LMM and low muscle strength and low physical performance," and "RT." Outcomes were overall survival (OS), progression-free survival, non-cancer death, cancer death, disease-specific survival, local failure-free survival, distant failure-free survival, and RT-related toxicities.
resultsAmong 460 studies, 8 studies were eligible for inclusion. The prevalence of sarcopenia was between 42.8% and 72%. Sarcopenia was not associated with OS or OS at 3 years in seven studies in which it was defined as the presence of LMM, while it was related in one study, in which it was defined as the concomitant presence of LMM and muscle strength/function. DISCUSSION: There was heterogeneity between the studies because there was diversity in their inclusion criteria, definition and assessment methods used for detection of sarcopenia, considered cutoffs for low muscle mass and strength, cross-sectional locations on imaging to assess muscle mass and included covariates. The discrepancy in the results of the studies may also result from the variations in diagnoses, sample sizes, and treatment modalities. The low number of included studies and a small number of patients in each study limited generalizability.
conclusionsSarcopenia may be a prognostic factor, especially in OS when low muscle strength/function is integrated into its definition. We suggest that clinicians focus on muscle strength/function while considering sarcopenia and its association with cancer and RT-related outcomes.
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