Visceral adipose tissue predicts perioperative complications of total neoadjuvant therapy for locally advanced rectal cancer: A multicenter real-world study.

Objective: For locally advanced rectal cancer, total neoadjuvant therapy can improve the pathologic complete response rate. However, total neoadjuvant therapy-related adverse events and postoperative complications remain significant challenges.

Methods: A restricted cubic spline model was used to analyze the relationship between visceral adipose tissue and total neoadjuvant therapy-related adverse events, intraoperative parameters, and postoperative complications. In addition, receiver operating characteristic curves combined with the Youden index were used to stratify patients with locally advanced rectal cancer.

Results: This multicenter, real-world retrospective study analyzed data from 739 patients with locally advanced rectal cancer who underwent total neoadjuvant therapy combined with standard total mesorectal excision. The results revealed a U-shaped, nonlinear association between baseline visceral adipose tissue and both total neoadjuvant therapy-related adverse events and postoperative complications (All P for nonlinear < .05), with both low visceral adipose tissue and visceral obesity linked to an increased risk of perioperative complications. On the basis of the restricted cubic spline and receiver operating characteristic curves, patients with locally advanced rectal cancer were classified into a low visceral adipose tissue group (≤29.5 cm), a normal visceral adipose tissue group (29.5∼105 cm), and a visceral obesity group (≥105 cm). In the low visceral adipose tissue group, visceral adipose tissue loss during total neoadjuvant therapy was associated with more perioperative complications, whereas visceral adipose tissue accumulation correlated with a reduction in perioperative complications (P for nonlinear >0.05). Moreover, in the visceral obesity group, any change in visceral adipose tissue (whether accumulation or loss) was associated with more perioperative complications (P for nonlinear <0.05).

Conclusion: Monitoring visceral adipose tissue via computed tomography may serve as a novel biomarker for predicting total neoadjuvant therapy-related adverse events and postoperative complications in patients with locally advanced rectal cancer.