CT-defined fat composition as a prognostic marker in gastric adenocarcinoma: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Computed tomography (CT)-defined fat quantification has been an emergent field of research in oncology. It was shown that this parameter is predictive and prognostic of several clinically relevant factors in several tumor entities. Objective: Our aim was to establish the effect of visceral and subcutaneous fat areas on overall survival (OS), disease-free survival (DFS), and postoperative complications in gastric cancer patients based on a large patient sample. Methods: MEDLINE library, EMBASE and SCOPUS databases were screened for the associations between visceral (VFA) and subcutaneous fat areas (SFA) defined by CT images and OS, DFS, and postoperative complications in gastric cancer patients up to August 2022. The primary endpoint of the systematic review was the hazard ratio for the outcome parameters. In total, 9 studies were suitable for the analysis and included into the present study. Results: The included studies comprised 3713 patients. The identified frequency of visceral obesity was 44.9%. The pooled hazard ratio for the effect of high VFA on OS was 1.28 (95% CI 1.09-1.49, p=0.002). For SFA, it was 1.87 (95% CI 1.45-2.42, p
Source: Digestive Diseases - Category: Gastroenterology Source Type: research