Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37727010›Full record

ArticleJournal of cachexia, sarcopenia and muscle2023

Skeletal muscle adaptations in patients with lung cancer: Longitudinal observations from the whole body to cellular level.

Deena B Snoke, Emma Bellefleur, Hibba Tul Rehman, James A Carson, Matthew E Poynter, Kim L Dittus, Michael J Toth

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of cachexia, sarcopenia and muscle, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
1.8field-weighted citation impact, top 15% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 10 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Circulating biomarkers in older adults with and without sarcopenia: a systematic review and meta-analysis.The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences · 2026
    Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Review
  5. Body composition alterations in patients with lung cancer.American journal of physiology. Cell physiology · 2025
    Review
  6. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Deena B SnokeDepartment of Medicine, University of Vermont Larner College of Medicine, Burlington, Vermont, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-2189-9441
Emma BellefleurDepartment of Medicine, University of Vermont Larner College of Medicine, Burlington, Vermont, USA.
Hibba Tul RehmanDepartment of Medicine, University of Vermont Larner College of Medicine, Burlington, Vermont, USA.
James A CarsonDepartment of Physical Therapy, The University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, Tennessee, USA.
Matthew E PoynterDepartment of Medicine, University of Vermont Larner College of Medicine, Burlington, Vermont, USA.
Kim L DittusDepartment of Medicine, University of Vermont Larner College of Medicine, Burlington, Vermont, USA.
Michael J TothDepartment of Medicine, University of Vermont Larner College of Medicine, Burlington, Vermont, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-0668-1911
University of Vermont · USUniversity of Tennessee Health Science Center · US

Funding

Understanding Factors Influencing COVID-19 Testing and Vaccination in Immigrant Low-income and Homeless Populations and Testing Targeted InterventionsU54GM115516 · NIGMS · MAINEHEALTH · PI CLIFFORD JAMES ROSEN, Gary S. Stein · 2017 to 2026
$51.6M
Multidisciplinary Training in Lung BiologyT32HL076122 · NHLBI · UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT &ST AGRIC COLLEGE · PI IRVIN, CHARLES G, POYNTER, MATTHEW E · 2004 to 2023
$6.1M
Skeletal Muscle Atrophy and Dysfunction in Human CancerR01AR065826 · NIAMS · UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT & ST AGRIC COLLEGE · PI TOTH, MICHAEL J · 2016 to 2021
$2.1M
Ketone Body Supplementation in Obese AsthmaR01HL142081 · NHLBI · UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT & ST AGRIC COLLEGE · PI POYNTER, MATTHEW E · 2018 to 2021
$1.8M
NHLBI NIH HHS R01 HL142081NHLBI NIH HHS T32 HL076122NIAMS NIH HHS R01 AR065826NIGMS NIH HHS U54 GM115516
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundCancer and its treatment can adversely affect skeletal muscle, impacting physical function, treatment response and survival. No studies, however, have comprehensively characterized these muscle adaptations longitudinally in human patients at the cellular level.

methodsWe examined skeletal muscle size and function from the whole body to the sub-cellular level in 11 patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC; 6 male/5 female, mean age 58 ± 3 years) studied over a 2-month observation period starting during their first cycle of standard of care cancer treatment and in 11 age- and sex-matched healthy controls (HC) without a current or past history of cancer. Biopsies of the vastus lateralis were performed to assess muscle fibre size, contractility and mitochondrial content, along with assessments of physical function, whole muscle size and function, and circulating cytokines.

resultsBody weight, composition and thigh muscle area and density were unaltered over time in patients with NSCLC, while muscle density was lower in patients with NSCLC versus HC (P = 0.03). Skeletal muscle fibre size decreased by 18% over time in patients (all P = 0.02) and was lower than HC (P = 0.02). Mitochondrial fractional area and density did not change over time in patients, but fractional area was lower in patients with NSCLC compared with HC (subsarcolemmal, P = 0.04; intermyofibrillar, P = 0.03). Patients with NSCLC had higher plasma concentrations of IL-6 (HC 1.40 ± 0.50; NSCLC 4.71 ± 4.22; P < 0.01), GDF-15 (HC 569 ± 166; NSCLC 2071 ± 1168; P < 0.01) and IL-8/CXCL8 (HC 4.9 ± 1.8; NSCLC 10.1 ± 6.0; P = 0.02) compared with HC, but there were no changes in inflammatory markers in patients with NSCLC over time. No changes were observed in markers of satellite cell activation or DNA damage in patients and no group differences were noted with HC. Whole-muscle strength was preserved over time in patients with NSCLC coincident with improved single fibre contractility.

conclusionsThis study is the first to comprehensively examine longitudinal alterations in skeletal muscle fibre size and function in patients with NSCLC and suggests that muscle fibre atrophy occurs during cancer treatment despite weight stability and no changes in conventional clinical measurements of whole body or thigh muscle size over this period.

Indexed as

Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell LungLung NeoplasmsFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedMuscle Fibers, SkeletalMuscle, SkeletalMuscle StrengthAtrophyCachexiaChemotherapyMalignancyPulmonary disease

Identifiers

PMID37727010
PMCPMC10751417
OpenAlexW4386878250

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.