ArticleJournal of thoracic disease2026
Prognostic role of preoperative skeletal muscle mass index in surgical lung cancer patients: a systematic review with meta-analysis.
Article in Journal of thoracic disease, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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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.
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5 authors.
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Abstract
Background: The prognostic value of preoperative skeletal muscle mass index (SMI) in lung cancer patients who undergo the surgery remains unclear. This meta-analysis aimed to clarify prognostic value of preoperative SMI with long-term survival among operated lung cancer patients. Methods: PubMed, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science databases were searched up to March 21, 2026. Endpoints for survival included the overall survival (OS), disease-free survival (DFS) and cancer-specific survival (CSS). Subgroup analyses stratified by the neoadjuvant therapy and tumor type for OS were further performed. Results: Fourteen retrospective studies with 8,008 participants were included. After combining available data, it was identified that a lower SMI was associated with poorer OS [hazard ratio (HR) =1.35, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.30-1.52, P<0.001] and DFS (HR =2.10, 95% CI: 1.06-4.15, P=0.03) and potentially poorer CSS (HR =1.64, 95% CI: 0.91-2.95, P=0.10). Subgroup analyses for the OS based on the neoadjuvant therapy (no: HR =1.90, P=0.003; yes: HR =2.50, P=0.03; mixed: HR =1.27, P=0.004) and tumor type (non-small cell lung cancer: HR =1.28, P<0.001; lung cancer: HR =2.03, P<0.001) manifested consistent results. Conclusions: Lower preoperative SMI was associated with worse survival among surgical lung cancer patients and may have potential value in prognostic assessment.
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