Table 1. Patient characteristics according to the presence of sarcopenia.
| Characteristics | Sarcopenia (n = 67) |
No sarcopenia (n = 73) |
p value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Age (years) | |||
| Median (range) | 69 (29–83) | 66 (22–91) | 0.061 |
| ≥ 70 years | 32 (47.8%) | 25 (34.2%) | 0.104 |
| Male | 66 (98.5%) | 40 (54.8%) | <0.001 |
| Extent of disease | 0.786 | ||
| Locally advanced | 3 (4.5%) | 4 (5.5%) | |
| Metastatic* | 64 (95.5%) | 69 (94.5%) | |
| ECOG performance status | 0.271 | ||
| 0–1 | 51 (76.1%) | 60 (83.6%) | |
| ≥ 2 | 16 (23.9%) | 12 (16.4%) | |
| HER2(+) | 22 (32.8%) | 26 (35.6%) | 0.729 |
| First-line regimen | 0.968 | ||
| S-1/cisplatin or XP | 20 (29.9%) | 22 (30.1%) | |
| FOLFOX or XELOX | 17 (25.4%) | 16 (21.9%) | |
| Trastuzumab plus XP | 12 (17.9%) | 16 (21.9%) | |
| FOLFIRI | 3 (4.5%) | 5 (6.8%) | |
| Modified DCF | 3 (4.5%) | 2 (2.7%) | |
| Trastuzumab plus capecitabine | 9 (13.4%) | 10 (13.7%) | |
| S-1 or capecitabine | 3 (4.5%) | 2 (2.7%) | |
| Response to first-line therapy | 0.363 | ||
| Responder | 27 (40.3%) | 35 (47.9%) | |
| Non-responder | 40 (59.7%) | 38 (52.1%) | |
| Receipt of second-line therapy | 23 (34.3%) | 35 (47.9%) | 0.102 |
| Second-line regimen† | 0.454 | ||
| Pacltiaxel | 9 (39.1%) | 15 (42.9%) | |
| Irinotecan | 6 (26.1%) | 7 (20.0%) | |
| FOLFIRI | 2 (8.7%) | 8 (22.9%) | |
| FOLFOX | 2 (8.7%) | 3 (8.6%) | |
| Ramucirumab plus paclitaxel | 2 (8.7%) | 2 (5.7%) | |
| Docetaxel | 2 (8.7%) | 0 | |
| Number of metastatic sites | 0.576 | ||
| 0–2 | 54 (80.6%) | 56 (76.7%) | |
| ≥ 3 | 13 (19.4%) | 17 (23.3%) | |
| BMI | 0.002 | ||
| Underweight | 23 (34.3%) | 9 (12.3%) | |
| Normal | 29 (43.3%) | 31 (42.5%) | |
| Overweight | 12 (17.9%) | 18 (24.7%) | |
| Obese | 3 (4.5%) | 15 (20.5%) | |
| L3 SMI (cm2/m2), median (range) | 42.4 (16.1–48.7) | 49.8 (31.9–72.6) | <0.001 |
| Hemoglobin (g/dL), median (range) | 10.2 (7.2–15.0) | 11.2 (7.2–15.8) | 0.082 |
| Serum albumin (g/dL) | |||
| median (range) | 3.4 (2.4–4.5) | 3.6 (1.9–4.5) | 0.114 |
| < 3.5 g/dL | 33 (49.3%) | 24 (32.9%) | 0.072 |
| Neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio, median (range) | 3.8 (1.1–45.6) | 3.0 (1.0–22.3) | 0.085 |
| CRP (g/dL), median (range) | 2.97 (0.02–20.17) | 1.45 (0.01–18.04) | 0.069 |
BMI, body mass index; CRP C-reactive protein; DCF, docetaxel, cisplatin, and 5-fluorouracil; ECOG, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group; FOLFIRI, 5-fluorouracil, leucovorin, and irinotecan; FOLFOX, 5-fluorouracil, leucovorin, and oxaliplatin; HER2, human epidermal growth factor 2; SMI, skeletal muscle index; XELOX, capecitabine and oxaliplatin XP, capecitabine and cisplatin.
*Four patients in the sarcopenia group and three in the non-sarcopenia group had recurrent disease.
†The percentage was calculated only within patients treated with the second-line treatment.