Combined Effect of Sarcopenia and Systemic Inflammation on Survival in Patients with Advanced Stage Cancer Treated with Immunotherapy.

CONCLUSION: Baseline sarcopenia and elevated inflammatory biomarkers may have a combined effect on decreasing survival in immunotherapy-treated patients in phase I trials. These data may be immediately applicable for medical oncologists for the risk stratification of patients beginning immunotherapeutic agents.
IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Sarcopenia and inflammation have been associated with poor survival in patients with cancer, but it is unclear how to apply this information to patient care. The authors created a risk-stratification system that combined sarcopenia and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio as a marker of systemic inflammation. The presence of sarcopenia and systemic inflammation decreased progression-free survival and overall survival in our cohort of 90 patients who received immunotherapy in phase I clinical trials. The data presented in this study may be immediately applicable for medical oncologists as a way to risk-stratify patients who are beginning treatment with immunotherapy.
PMID: 31806781 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Source: The Oncologist - December 4, 2019 Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Bilen MA, Martini DJ, Liu Y, Shabto JM, Brown JT, Williams M, Khan AI, Speak A, Lewis C, Collins H, Kissick HT, Carthon BC, Akce M, Shaib WL, Alese OB, Pillai RN, Steuer CE, Wu CS, Lawson DH, Kudchadkar RR, El-Rayes BF, Ramalingam SS, Owonikoko TK, Harvey Tags: Oncologist Source Type: research