Effect of Sarcopenia on Hepatocellular Carcinoma(HCC) After Systemic Therapies

Effect of Sarcopenia on the Efficacy and Prognosis of HCC Treated With Systemic Therapies

Sarcopenia is associated with the prognosis of HCC and cholangiocarcinoma. But there has been rare study focusing on the effect of sarcopenia on the prognosis of HCC treated with systemic therapy, such as interventional therapy, targeted therapy, chemotherapy and immunotherapy and so on.

By tracking the short-term and long-term results of HCC patients treated with systemic therapy,the difference of short-term results between patients with sarcopenia and patients without sarcopenia was analyzed, and the correlation between sarcopenia and short-term and long-term results of patients after systemic treatments was explored, so as to improve people's awareness of sarcopenia and pay attention to its prevention and treatment.All implementation details are based on the newest EuropeanWorking Group on Sarcopenia in Older People(EWGSOP) definition. The investigators consecutively admitted patients the questionnaire and evaluated the assessment of muscle strength (grip strength test and chair stand test), muscle quantity (L3 plane total skeletal muscle area) and physical performance (gait test) following the F-A-C-S approach, to confirm patients with sarcopenia accurately. And by tracking the short-term and long-term outcomes, the differences were analyzed and the relationship between sarcopenia and prognosis of systemic treatments was explored.

Inclusion Criteria:

• clinical diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma
• No cancer other than liver cancer has been diagnosed
• Age ≥18 years
• child-pugh score≤7

Exclusion Criteria:

• uncompleted standard tests and questionnaires
• received other therapies
• Patients who had other causes of muscle weakness (injury, fracture, stroke, etc.)
• Patients who missing CT data or CT scan did not reach the level of the third lumbar vertebra (L3)
• lost follow-up