Sarcopenia Is Associated With Impaired Overall Survival After Gastrectomy for Elderly Gastric Cancer.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of sarcopenia diagnosed by the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People (EWGSOP) algorithm on long-term outcome after gastrectomy.A total of 90 elderly gastric cancer patients without distant metastasis aged 65 years or older who underwent gastrectomy at the Osaka National Hospital between July 2012 and January 2015 were included in the current analysis.The sarcopenic group (n=19) had a poorer overall survival (OS) (p<0.0001) compared to the non-sarcopenic group (n=79). OS after recurrence was also worse in the sarcopenic group. Multivariate analysis indicated that sarcopenia was an independent risk factor for worse OS after gastrectomy (hazard ratio(HR)=2.92; 95% confidence interval(CI)=1.15-7.75; p=0.025), along with N stage ≥2, age ≥75 years, and presence of severe postoperative complications.Sarcopenia is a potential target for preoperative intervention in elderly gastric cancer patients to improve prognosis after gastrectomy. (UMIN-CTR: R000041532).