Sarcopenia and functional status in overweight patients with cancer

Muscle loss or sarcopenia is a common condition observed in patients with cancer and it has been associated with poor clinical outcomes, including poor functional status. Accurate tools to assess muscle loss in cancer are expensive and not readily available in clinical settings. This study investigated the prevalence of sarcopenia and its association with different portable/low‐cost functional status measurement tools (i.e., handgrip strength, walking test, self‐reported questionnaires) in overweight/obese (BMI≥25kg/m 2 ) patients with advanced cancer. Twenty‐eight patients (68% males) aged 64.5±9.5y with advanced lung or colorectal cancer were included. Sarcopenia was assessed by measuring appendicular skeletal muscle adjusted by height (ASM index) using Dual‐energy X‐ray absorptiometry, DXA. Approximately 40% of the patients were sarcopenic. Average handgrip strength was higher in non‐sarcopenic males compared to sarcopenic males ( p= 0.035). In males, ASM index was positively correlated with average ( r =0.535; p =0.018) and peak handgrip strength ( r =0.457; p =0.049). No differences were observed among female patients. Handgrip strength was associated with sarcopenia in male patients with advanced cancer and may be used as a portable and simple nutritional screening tool.