Abstract Introduction Assessment of sarcopenia has emerged as a prognostic indicator in several malignancies, including lung cancer, resectable colorectal cancer, and urological cancer (Suzuki et al., 2016; Yang et al., 2019; Li et al., 2019). These findings suggest sarcopenia may also serve as a prognostic marker in patients with retroperitoneal sarcoma, but evidence in this population is limited. Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted on patients diagnosed with sarcoma at a single trust over ten years (2014–2024). Psoas Muscle Index (PMI) was calculated from cross-sectional computed tomography (CT) imaging. Published PMI cut-offs (524 mm²/m² for males and 385 mm²/m² for females; Prado et al., 2008) were applied to identify sarcopenic patients. Mortality and cancer recurrence were the primary outcomes. To explore whether cohort-specific thresholds better predicted outcomes, sex-specific PMI cut-offs were also derived using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis and Youden’s J statistic. Results Of 145 patients diagnosed with retroperitoneal or intra-abdominal sarcoma, six were excluded due to missing data, leaving 139 for analysis. 42 patients (30.2%) were sarcopenic and 97 (69.8%) non-sarcopenic. Mortality did not significantly differ between groups (23.8% versus 24.7%). Application of ROC/Youden’s J-derived thresholds did not meaningfully alter these findings. Recurrence rates were comparable (4.8% versus 3.1%). Discussion In this cohort, sarcopenia defined by PMI was not associated with increased mortality or recurrence in patients with retroperitoneal or intra-abdominal sarcoma. Further research incorporating more robust measures of skeletal muscle mass and function is required to clarify its prognostic value in this population.
Kahar et al. (Sun,) studied this question.
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