SynthesisBritish journal of cancer2025
The predictive and prognostic role of radiologically defined sarcopenia in head and neck cancer: a systematic review and multi-level meta-analysis.
Synthesis in British journal of cancer, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- From neck to abdomen: cervical (C3) muscle quantification as a surrogate to lumbar (L3) sarcopenia assessment in head and neck cancer: systematic review and meta-analysis.Skeletal radiology · 2026Pooled it
- Identifying markers of cachexia and nutritional deficit on radical radiotherapy outcomes in lung and head and neck cancer.Current opinion in supportive and palliative care · 2026Review
- Machine learning for predicting muscle loss after radiotherapy using clinical and toxicity data in oral cavity cancer.European archives of oto-rhino-laryngology : official journal of the European Federation of Oto-Rhino-Laryngological Societies (EUFOS) : affiliated with the German Society for Oto-Rhino-Laryngology - Head and Neck Surgery · 2026Article
- Article
- Deep learning-based automated masseter muscle area on routine CT stratifies survival in oral cancer.Oral radiology · 2026Article
- Prognostic impact of MRI-based cervical skeletal muscle mass on survival in parotid gland carcinoma.Japanese journal of clinical oncology · 2026Article
- Automated Pretreatment Thoracic CT-Based Body Composition Analysis Predicts Progression-Free Survival in Head and Neck Cancer.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Article
- The clinical application value of body composition in predicting the prognosis of rectal cancer.International journal of clinical oncology · 2026Article
- Sarcopenia in head and neck cancer: the complexity of skeletal muscle mass cut-off values.British journal of cancer · 2026Article
- Sarcopenia and cancer outcomes: thresholds need to account for age-related changes in muscle mass.British journal of cancer · 2026Article
- Predictors of aspiration pneumonia in oral cavity cancer patients undergoing radiation therapy: A focus on skeletal muscle index.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 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
- Article
- Skeletal Muscle Radiation Attenuation at C3 Predicts Survival in Head and Neck Cancer.Current oncology (Toronto, Ont.) · 2025Article
- Prognostic Impact of Sarcopenia on Clinical Outcomes in Patients With Recurrent and/or Metastatic Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma Treated With Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors.Cancer diagnosis & prognosisArticle
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Radiologically defined sarcopenia (RS), defined as a lack of skeletal muscle mass (SMM) measured on cross-sectional CT or MR imaging, is increasingly recognized as a significant prognostic determinant in head and neck cancer (HNC). A systematic literature search of Embase and Medline was performed to identify studies investigating the impact of pre-treatment sarcopenia on the prognosis of HNC patients. All available survival and other treatment-related outcomes were extracted and analyzed in a multi-level meta-analysis. Sixty-three studies comprising data from 14,804 patients were analyzed. The overall estimated log OR was 0.644 (95% CI = 0.505-0.783, p < 0.001), suggesting that patients with RS have a higher risk of worse outcomes. In 43 studies there was a significant effect of sarcopenia on survival, with a log OR of 0.808 (95% CI = 0.509-1.107, p < 0.001). In 15 studies RS was shown to be a risk factor for treatment-related complications (log OR = 0.669, 95% CI = 0.441-0.897, p < 0.001). We conclude that pre-treatment radiologically defined sarcopenia is a robust prognostic and predictive factor in HNC patients and is associated with worse survival and increased risk of treatment-related complications.
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