Search

Simple Summary: Pancreatic cancer (PC) is one of the most lethal malignancies across the world. More than 80% patients are diagnosed at an advanced stage with limited treatment options. PC has the highest frequency of developing cancer cachexia (CC)–sarcopenia (SC) syndrome, but there is no optimal efficient intervention for CC or SC targeting their complicated biological and irreversible processes. As a result, identifying the clinicopathological features and patient characteristics in each advanced PC patient with CC and/or SC is urgently needed to distinguish different wasting phenotypes or body composition and thus support precision medicine and achieve optimal outcomes. We performed a retrospective cohort study of 232 advanced PC patients to determine the differential clinical characteristics of CC and SC and the overlap of CC- or SC-related factors in each patient. The impacts of CC, SC, and their relevant factors on the outcomes of PC patients were also evaluated. Pancreatic cancer (PC) has the highest frequency of developing cancer cachexia (CC)–sarcopenia (SC) syndrome, which negatively influences patients' outcome, quality of life, and tolerance/response to treatments. However, the clinical impacts of CC, SC, and their associated factors on outcomes for advanced PC has yet to be fully investigated. A total of 232 patients were enrolled in this study for the retrospective review of their clinical information and the measurement of skeletal muscle areas at the third lumber vertebra by computed tomography scan to identify CC or SC. The association and concurrent occurrence of clinicopathological features in each patient, prevalence rates, and prognosis with the CC or SC were calculated. CC and SC were observed in 83.6% (n = 194) and 49.1% (n = 114) of PC patients, respectively. Low hemoglobin levels more often occurred in CC patients than in non-CC patients (p = 0.014). Older age (p = 0.000), female gender (p = 0.024), low body mass index (BMI) values (p = 0.004), low hemoglobin levels (p = 0.036), and low albumin levels (p = 0.001) were more often found in SC patients than in non-SC patients. Univariate and multivariate analyses showed that CC was an independent poor prognostic factor of overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival for all patients, the chemotherapy (C/T) subgroup, and the high BMI subgroup. Meanwhile, SC was an independent predictor of poor OS for the subgroups of C/T or high BMI but not for all patients. These findings reveal the clinical differences for CC and SC and provide useful information for predicting the prognosis of advanced PC patients and conducting personalized medicine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cancer cachexia (CC), characterized by body weight loss and sarcopenia, contributes to over 20% of all cancer-related death. Approximately 80% of pancreatic cancer (PC) patients develop CC during disease progression. Pro-inflammatory cytokines, including interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, IL-8, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, have been correlated with CC; however, its prognostic significance remains unclear. In this study, serum levels of the CC-related cytokines were determined in normal donors and PC patients. IL-8 expression was assessed in PC tissue microarrays. The correlation of levels of each cytokine with disease progression, weight loss, and sarcopenia was calculated. The relationships among the baseline variables, CC, and IL-8 expression with disease progression were examined using univariate and multivariate analyses. Of these mentioned cytokines, only serum IL-8 level was elevated in the locally advanced group (n = 55) compared with the normal (n = 17) and resected groups (n = 55). Serum IL-8 level was positively correlated with CC status, weight loss, sarcopenia, but was negatively correlated with total psoas area (TPA). IL-8 expression in tissue samples was also positively associated with weight loss. Furthermore, serum IL-8 level was an independent predictor of survival. In conclusion, elevated serum IL-8 level significantly correlates with CC and sarcopenia and can be used as a prognostic indicator in PC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]