ArticleHead & neck2024
Masseter muscle thickness is predictive of cancer cachexia in patients with head and neck cancer.
Article in Head & neck, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
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.
Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 1 citations in OpenAlex.
- Sarcopenia and Survival in Patients With Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma Receiving Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Prognostic Association.Cancer reports (Hoboken, N.J.) · 2026Pooled it
- Prognostic evaluation of sarcopenia with radiological and laboratory parameters in geriatric head and neck cancer patients.Discover oncology · 2026Article
- The role of nutritional status and sarcopenia in treatment tolerance and toxicity in head and neck cancer: a narrative review.Frontiers in nutrition · 2026Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundCancer cachexia is prevalent in head and neck cancer patients. The L3 skeletal muscle index (SMI) is often used to assess sarcopenia and cachexia but is infrequently able to be measured in this population. Masseter muscle thickness (MT) may serve as an alternative predictor of cachexia.
methodsSMI and MT were calculated from 20 trauma (CTRL) and 40 cachectic (CA-CX) and non-cachectic (CA-NCX) head and neck cancer patients. Area Under the Curve of the Receiver Operating Characteristics (AUC-ROC) analysis was performed for SMI and MT.
resultsBoth SMI and MT were significantly decreased in CA-CX patients (vs. CA-NCX mean difference -19.5 cm
conclusionsCompared with SMI, MT is a good alternative prognostic biomarker to determine CA-CX status in HNC patients.
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Registered trials
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.