Quantitative and Qualitative Radiological Assessment of Sarcopenia and Cachexia in Cancer Patients: A Systematic Review
Sarcopenia, an extremely common condition in cancer patients, is described as a progressive and generalized musculoskeletal disorder that is associated with an increased likelihood of adverse outcomes, including falls, fractures, physical disability, and mortality. By contrast, cachexia is defined a...
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MDPI AG
2024-02-01
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| Series: | Journal of Personalized Medicine |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4426/14/3/243 |
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| author | Sveva Mortellaro Sonia Triggiani Federica Mascaretti Micol Galloni Ornella Garrone Gianpaolo Carrafiello Michele Ghidini |
| author_facet | Sveva Mortellaro Sonia Triggiani Federica Mascaretti Micol Galloni Ornella Garrone Gianpaolo Carrafiello Michele Ghidini |
| author_sort | Sveva Mortellaro |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Sarcopenia, an extremely common condition in cancer patients, is described as a progressive and generalized musculoskeletal disorder that is associated with an increased likelihood of adverse outcomes, including falls, fractures, physical disability, and mortality. By contrast, cachexia is defined as a syndrome characterized by weight loss with the concomitant loss of muscle and/or fat mass. Cancer cachexia leads to functional impairment, reduced physical performance, and decreased survival, and is often accompanied by cancer progression and reduced response to therapy. The literature states that cancer patients with cachexia or sarcopenia have many more complications than patients without these conditions. The interplay between physiologic sarcopenia and cancer cachexia is, in part, responsible for the complexity of studying wasting disorders in the cancer population, particularly in the geriatric population. For these reasons, a comprehensive assessment of the body composition and physical function of these patients is necessary. There are several modalities adapted to measure skeletal muscle mass, such as dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA), bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA), computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and ultrasound (US). The gold standard for the measurement of quantitative and qualitative changes in body composition in patients with cancer is the analysis of tissue density using a CT scan. However, this technique remains poorly implemented in clinical practice because of the use of ionizing radiation. Similarly, DEXA, MRI, and US have been proposed, but their use is limited. In this review, we present and compare the imaging techniques that have been developed so far for the nutritional assessment of cancer patients. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-24T18:06:22Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-cf28b0020fe64bb88039cede3657fcd8 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2075-4426 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T18:06:22Z |
| publishDate | 2024-02-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Personalized Medicine |
| spelling | doaj.art-cf28b0020fe64bb88039cede3657fcd82024-03-27T13:50:03ZengMDPI AGJournal of Personalized Medicine2075-44262024-02-0114324310.3390/jpm14030243Quantitative and Qualitative Radiological Assessment of Sarcopenia and Cachexia in Cancer Patients: A Systematic ReviewSveva Mortellaro0Sonia Triggiani1Federica Mascaretti2Micol Galloni3Ornella Garrone4Gianpaolo Carrafiello5Michele Ghidini6Postgraduate School in Radiodiagnostics, Università degli Studi di Milano, 20122 Milan, ItalyPostgraduate School in Radiodiagnostics, Università degli Studi di Milano, 20122 Milan, ItalyCenter for Prevention and Diagnosis of Celiac Disease, Gastroenterology and Endoscopy Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Ca’ Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, 20122 Milan, ItalyCryovis s.r.l, 20122 Milan, ItalyOncology Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Ca’ Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, 20122 Milan, ItalyOperative Unit of Radiology, Fondazione IRCCS Ca’ Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, 20122 Milan, ItalyOncology Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Ca’ Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, 20122 Milan, ItalySarcopenia, an extremely common condition in cancer patients, is described as a progressive and generalized musculoskeletal disorder that is associated with an increased likelihood of adverse outcomes, including falls, fractures, physical disability, and mortality. By contrast, cachexia is defined as a syndrome characterized by weight loss with the concomitant loss of muscle and/or fat mass. Cancer cachexia leads to functional impairment, reduced physical performance, and decreased survival, and is often accompanied by cancer progression and reduced response to therapy. The literature states that cancer patients with cachexia or sarcopenia have many more complications than patients without these conditions. The interplay between physiologic sarcopenia and cancer cachexia is, in part, responsible for the complexity of studying wasting disorders in the cancer population, particularly in the geriatric population. For these reasons, a comprehensive assessment of the body composition and physical function of these patients is necessary. There are several modalities adapted to measure skeletal muscle mass, such as dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA), bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA), computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and ultrasound (US). The gold standard for the measurement of quantitative and qualitative changes in body composition in patients with cancer is the analysis of tissue density using a CT scan. However, this technique remains poorly implemented in clinical practice because of the use of ionizing radiation. Similarly, DEXA, MRI, and US have been proposed, but their use is limited. In this review, we present and compare the imaging techniques that have been developed so far for the nutritional assessment of cancer patients.https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4426/14/3/243sarcopeniacachexiaradiological assessmentBIADEXACT scan |
| spellingShingle | Sveva Mortellaro Sonia Triggiani Federica Mascaretti Micol Galloni Ornella Garrone Gianpaolo Carrafiello Michele Ghidini Quantitative and Qualitative Radiological Assessment of Sarcopenia and Cachexia in Cancer Patients: A Systematic Review Journal of Personalized Medicine sarcopenia cachexia radiological assessment BIA DEXA CT scan |
| title | Quantitative and Qualitative Radiological Assessment of Sarcopenia and Cachexia in Cancer Patients: A Systematic Review |
| title_full | Quantitative and Qualitative Radiological Assessment of Sarcopenia and Cachexia in Cancer Patients: A Systematic Review |
| title_fullStr | Quantitative and Qualitative Radiological Assessment of Sarcopenia and Cachexia in Cancer Patients: A Systematic Review |
| title_full_unstemmed | Quantitative and Qualitative Radiological Assessment of Sarcopenia and Cachexia in Cancer Patients: A Systematic Review |
| title_short | Quantitative and Qualitative Radiological Assessment of Sarcopenia and Cachexia in Cancer Patients: A Systematic Review |
| title_sort | quantitative and qualitative radiological assessment of sarcopenia and cachexia in cancer patients a systematic review |
| topic | sarcopenia cachexia radiological assessment BIA DEXA CT scan |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4426/14/3/243 |
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