Full Text

Turn on search term navigation

© 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.

Abstract

Simple Summary

Studies assessing the associations of body composition and mortality have found conflicting results due to small sample sizes and short follow-up periods. Using a nationally representative sample, we assessed the associations between total body fat mass and skeletal muscle index, and all-cause and cancer-specific mortality in cancer survivors. Participants with higher fat mass and sarcopenia were at a higher risk of mortality. Our results have significant clinical and public health implications, since fat and muscle mass are important prognostic factors in cancer patients. The findings also highlight the importance of healthy body composition and the need for more research into the effects of specific interventions, such as physical activities, a healthy diet, and supplemental nutrition aimed at reducing fat mass and preventing muscle loss.

Abstract

Purpose: The importance of body composition on cancer outcomes is of great clinical interest. Measures of body composition that differentiate fat mass from skeletal muscle mass can help redefine our understanding of body composition for cancer survival. We investigated whether the risk of all-cause and cancer-specific mortality differ by levels of total fat mass and sarcopenia status in cancer survivors. Our secondary aim was a subgroup analysis assessing the role of race within these associations. Methods: Participants included 1682 adult cancer survivors who had undergone a dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) examination to measure body composition, from the 1999–2006 and 2011–2018 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Total fat mass was categorized into tertiles (we assessed high vs. low tertiles), and sarcopenia was considered as having an appendicular skeletal muscle mass index less than 7.26 kg/m2 for males and less than 5.45 kg/m2 for females. Multivariable Cox proportional hazard models estimated the adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) and 95% confidence interval (CI). Results: The mean age of study participants was 61.9 years, and they were followed up for an average of 9.67 years. The prevalence of sarcopenia was 25.0% (N = 304), and 33.4% (N = 561) had a high total fat mass. Participants with a higher fat mass (aHR = 1.30, 95% CI = 1.06–1.61) and with sarcopenia (aHR = 1.51, 95% CI = 1.22–1.88) had a 30% and 51% increased risk of all-cause mortality compared to participants with a low fat mass and with no sarcopenia, respectively. Further, sarcopenia (aHR = 1.74, 95% CI = 1.23–2.29) was associated with a higher risk of cancer-specific mortality in cancer survivors. The association between sarcopenia and all-cause mortality was twice as strong in Black people (aHR = 2.99, 95% CI = 1.39–6.06) compared to White people (aHR = 1.53, 95% CI = 1.19–1.95). Conclusions: Our findings show the opposing relations of fat mass and appendicular skeletal muscle mass index with mortality in a national sample of cancer survivors, and that the relationships may differ by race. These results emphasize the importance of maintaining a healthy body composition among cancer survivors.

Details

Title
Associations of Total Body Fat Mass and Skeletal Muscle Index with All-Cause and Cancer-Specific Mortality in Cancer Survivors
Author
Livingstone Aduse-Poku 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Karanth, Shama D 2   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Wheeler, Meghann 1 ; Yang, Danting 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Washington, Caretia 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Young-Rock, Hong 3   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Manini, Todd M 4 ; Fabregas, Jesus C 5 ; Ting-Yuan, David Cheng 6 ; Braithwaite, Dejana 7   VIAFID ORCID Logo 

 Department of Epidemiology, University of Florida, 2004 Mowry Rd., Gainesville, FL 32610, USA 
 University of Florida Health Cancer Center, University of Florida, 2004 Mowry Rd., Gainesville, FL 32610, USA; Aging & Geriatric Research, Institute on Aging, 2004 Mowry Rd., Gainesville, FL 32610, USA 
 Department of Health Services Research, Management, & Policy, 1225 Center Dr., Gainesville, FL 32610, USA 
 Department Health Outcomes & Biomedical Informatics, Institute on Aging, 2004 Mowry Rd., Gainesville, FL 32611, USA 
 Division of Hematology & Oncology, College of Medicine, University of Florida, 2000 SW Archer Rd., Gainesville, FL 32608, USA 
 Division of Cancer Prevention and Control, Department of Internal Medicine, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA 
 Department of Epidemiology, University of Florida, 2004 Mowry Rd., Gainesville, FL 32610, USA; University of Florida Health Cancer Center, University of Florida, 2004 Mowry Rd., Gainesville, FL 32610, USA; Department of Surgery, University of Florida, 1600 SW Archer Rd., Gainesville, FL 32608, USA 
First page
1081
Publication year
2023
Publication date
2023
Publisher
MDPI AG
e-ISSN
20726694
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2779452905
Copyright
© 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.