Impact of sarcopenia in advanced and metastatic soft tissue sarcoma.

INTRODUCTION: Advanced or metastatic soft tissue sarcoma (a/mSTS) is associated with a dismal prognosis. Patient counseling on treatment aggressiveness is pivotal to avoid over- or undertreatment. Recently, evaluation of body composition markers like the skeletal muscle index (SMI) became focus of interest in a variety of cancers. This study focuses on the prognostic impact of SMI in a/mSTS, retrospectively. METHODS: 181 a/mSTS patients were identified, 89 were eligible due to prespecified criteria for SMI assessment. Baseline CT-Scans were analyzed using an institutional software solution. Sarcopenia defining cut-off values for the SMI were established by optimal fitting method. Primary end point was overall survival (OS) and secondary endpoints were progression free survival (PFS), disease control rate (DCR), overall response rate (ORR). Descriptive statistics as well as Kaplan Meier- and Cox regression analyses were administered. RESULTS: 28/89 a/mSTS patients showed sarcopenia. Sarcopenic patients were significantly older, generally tended to receive less multimodal therapies (62 vs. 57 years, P = 0.025; respectively median 2.5 vs. 4, P = 0.132) and showed a significantly lower median OS (4 months [95%CI 1.9-6.0] vs. 16 months [95%CI 8.8-23.2], Log-rank P = 0.002). Sarcopenia was identified as independent prognostic parameter of impaired OS (HR 2.40 [95%-CI 1.4-4.0], P < 0.001). Moreover, DCR of first palliative medical treatment was superior in non-sarcopenic patients (49.2% vs. 25%, P = 0.032). CONCLUSION: This study identifies sarcopenia as a prognostic parameter in a/mSTS. Further on, the data suggest that sarcopenia shows a trend of being associated with first line therapy response. SMI is a promising prognostic parameter, which needs further validation.

Sarcoid-Like Lesions Mimicking Pulmonary Metastasis: A Case Series and Review of the Literature.

BACKGROUND: The association of sarcoid-like lesions and malignancy is well described. Nonetheless, pulmonary lesions in malignant disease are typically presumed metastatic, and do not routinely receive histological validation. Here, we report on pulmonary sarcoid-like lesions identified in patients with a primary malignancy where pulmonary metastatic disease was suspected. METHODS: Patients who underwent thoracic surgical procedures for confirmation or treatment of suspected pulmonary metastasis were retrospectively analysed. RESULTS: In 8/186 patients (4.3%), histology revealed sarcoid-like lesions. In these cases, there were no clinical symptoms suggestive of sarcoidosis. All underlying primary malignancies in the sarcoid-like patients were treated with curative intent. The median age of patients with sarcoid-like lesions was 46.3 years (range 26-61). The median interval between primary diagnosis of malignancy and diagnosis of pulmonary lesions was 188 days (range 0-794), with thoracic surgical intervention performed at a median of 250 days (range 183-675). FDG-avidity was demonstrated in the sarcoid-like lesions in 2 out of 3 patients who underwent PET-CT. CONCLUSION: Sarcoid-like lesions may be challenging to identify and can mimic pulmonary metastases. Therefore, considering sarcoidosis as a differential diagnosis whenever first pulmonary metastasis is suspected is warranted. Carefully considered, histological validation of initial suspected pulmonary metastasis may avoid subsequent over- or undertreatment.