Key Takeaway
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Sarcopenia measured by temporalis muscle thickness (TMT) robustly and independently predicts early relapse and short survival in primary central nervous system (CNS) lymphoma.
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Very thin TMT is a better predictor of mortality than the International Extranodal Lymphoma Study Group score and the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center prognostic model.
Why This Matters
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Most patients with primary CNS lymphoma achieve long-term remission, but about 20% have aggressive disease and die in the first year.
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TMT can distinguish these two groups and inform decisions between aggressive management or palliative control.
Study Design
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Two blinded operators retrospectively measured TMT in 99 consecutive pretreatment brain MRIs from patients who were subsequently diagnosed with primary CNS lymphoma.
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Patients with TMT less than one standard deviation below the group mean were considered to have very thin TMT.
Key Results
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Fifteen patients met the very thin mark, with TMT below 6 mm.
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On multivariate analysis controlling for age, sex, TMT, performance status, body mass index, consolidation, and lifetime methotrexate dose, very thin TMT was independently associated with both early progression (HR, 7.87; P < .001) and short survival (HR, 4.49; P < .001).
Limitations
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MRI technique was not standardized, which might have affected TMT measurements.
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The optimal cutoff value for TMT needs to be validated in a prospective study.
Disclosures
This is a summary of a preprint research report led by Alipi Bonm at the University of Washington, Seattle, provided to you by Medscape. This study has not yet been peer-reviewed. The full text can be found at researchsquare.com.
M. Alexander Otto is a physician assistant with a master’s degree in medical science. He is an award-winning medical journalist who worked for several major news outlets before joining Medscape and is an MIT Knight Science Journalism fellow. Email: [email protected].
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Content Source: https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/964469?src=rss
