Sarcopenia, as a reliable prognostic predictor in urologic oncology surgery remains controversial, and no consensus amongst researchers exists regarding the management of patients with sarcopenia.

A new study published in Urologic Oncology investigated the association between sarcopenia and postoperative outcomes after urologic oncology surgery.

This was a meta-analysis that entailed a systematic search from MEDLINE (via PubMed), Embase, Web of Science and Cochrane Library databases—to identify the potential studies published before August 2019. Overall, 17 retrospective cohorts comprising 3 948 patients were selected – with the sarcopenia prevalence ranging from 25-68.9%.

The findings showed that patients with sarcopenia had significantly shorter overall survival and cancer-specific survival than those without. The condition was independently associated with an increased all-cause mortality and cancer-specific mortality. While no prognostic difference was observed in the postoperative risk of total complications and systemic progression, except for the lymphovascular invasion status.

It was inferred that sarcopenia is an independent poor prognostic factor for patients undergoing urologic oncology surgery, particularly, for postoperative risks of short survival and increased mortality. It was stated that preoperative sarcopenia evaluation can provide clinicians with important information to guide and individualize patient management and improve surgical outcomes.

Source: Urologic Oncology. 2020 Apr 5. pii: S1078-1439(20)30055-7. doi: 10.1016/j.urolonc.2020.02.014.