Evaluation of sarcopenia as a prognostic biomarker in locally advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

We aimed to evaluate the effect of sarcopenia on survival in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma patients treated with chemoradiotherapy. Disease-free survival and overall survival were compared according to cervical computed tomography for radiotherapy in 123 sarcopenic and non-sarcopenic patients with locally advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma treated with chemoradiotherapy with weekly cisplatin. In multivariate analyses, pretreatment sarcopenia was associated with lower disease-free survival (hazard ratio: 2.60; 95% CI: 1.38-4.87; p = 0.003) and overall survival (hazard ratio: 2.86; 95% CI: 1.40-5.85; p = 0.004). Sarcopenic patients experienced more frequent radiotherapy-related toxicities and platinum-related side effects than non-sarcopenic patients. Sarcopenia could be a potential biomarker to predict prognosis and treatment toxicity in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.