Risk factors of sarcopenia in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

Background: Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma（ESCC） is a common malignant tumor of the digestive tract, which seriously threatens human life and health. This study aimed to explore the correlation between sarcopenia in patients with ESCC and tumor clinical stage, characteristics, adverse reactions after chemotherapy and peripheral blood inflammatory indexes. Moreover, the correlation between appendicular skeletal mass index (ASMI) and the patient-generated subjective global assessment (PG-SGA) for the assessment of patient nutritional status were also be analyzed. Methods: The clinical data of 225 patients with advanced ESCC in Hebei General Hospital from January 2019 to February 2022 were collected. Pearson analysis was carried out to analyze the correlation between ASMI and PG-SGA score. Results: Among the 225 patients, the incidence of sarcopenia was 43.11% ( 97 of 225 patients) . The sarcopenia group was significantly older and the incidence of grade Ⅲ / Ⅳ adverse reactions after chemotherapy was higher; In addition, the sarcopenia group showed lower BMI, but higher PG - SGA score and NLR (neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, NLR) ( P <0.05). Univariate analysis and multivariate analysis showed that age, PG-SGA score, grade Ⅲ / Ⅳ adverse reaction after chemotherapy, and NLR were independent risk factors for sarcopenia ( P < 0.05). There was a significant negative correlation between ASMI and PG - SGA score (r=-0.27,P<0.001) . Conclusion: Advanced age, the occurrence of adverse reactions after chemotherapy and the systemic inflammatory state of patients are closely related to the occurrence of sarcopenia in advanced ESCC. ASMI and PG-SGA, have a significant correlation in the evaluation of nutritional status of patients.