The impact of body composition on short-term outcomes of neoadjuvant chemotherapy with gemcitabine plus S-1 in patients with resectable pancreatic cancer

Clinical efficacy and chemoresistance analysis of precision neoadjuvant chemotherapy for borderline resectable pancreatic cancer: a prospective, single-arm pilot study

BACKGROUND

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) can improve the survival outcomes of patients with pancreatic cancer, but for borderline resectable pancreatic cancer (BRPC) the proportion of conversion to surgery remains unsatisfactory. This single-arm pilot study aimed to assess the clinical efficacy and safety of NAC based on patient-derived organoids (PDOs) for BRPC.

METHODS

Biopsy samples from BRPC patients were collected for generating PDOs. Gemcitabine plus nab-paclitaxel as NAC was initially administrated for one cycle, and then the treatment regimen was adjusted based on the PDO drug sensitivity testing. The primary endpoint was the objective response rate (ORR). Secondary endpoints included R0 resection rate, NAC-related adverse events (AEs), and postoperative complications. Exploratory objectives were to assess the chemoresistance to gemcitabine.

RESULTS

Totally 19 of 25 patients were eligible for the study, among whom 16 achieved partial response and received surgical resection, with the ORR of 84.2% (16/19). The R0 resection rate was 81.3% (13/16). During NAC, 8 (42.1%, 8/19) patients experienced different grades of AEs, mainly including grade 2 myelosuppression (26.3%), cutaneous pruritus (5.3%), and diarrhea (5.3%). scRNA-seq analysis of duct cells showed that the transcriptome in aneuploid cells may affect gemcitabine resistance via multiple pathways, among which upregulation of drug-resistant genes ( OLFM4, AGR2, MUC5AC, MUC1, HMGA1, REG4, IL17RB, GCNT3, AKR1B10, ITGA6, HMGCS2 , and SQLE ) and downregulation of sensitive genes ( SIK1, HEXIM1, SPINT2, GADD45 , and TIMP2 ) played crucial roles. Changes in the interactions between cancer cells and other cell groups may also involve in gemcitabine resistance.

CONCLUSION

PDO-based NAC shows a promising resectable rate in BRPC patients, with good tolerance. Potential drug-resistant and sensitive genes and cell-cell interaction changes may participate in the development of gemcitabine resistance.

Pancreatic cancer and sarcopenia: a narrative review of the current status

Pancreatic cancer is still a difficult disease to treat, despite recent advances in surgical techniques and chemotherapeutic drugs. Its incidence continues to rise, as does the number of older patients. Sarcopenia is defined as a progressive and generalized loss of skeletal muscle mass and strength. Sarcopenia is present in approximately 40% in patients with pancreatic cancer. Sarcopenia is primarily diagnosed through imaging, and progress is being made in the development of automated methods and artificial intelligence, as well as biomarker research. Sarcopenia has been linked to a poor prognosis in pancreatic cancer patients. However, some studies suggest that sarcopenia is not always associated with a poor prognosis, depending on the resectability of pancreatic cancer and the nature of treatment, such as surgery or chemotherapy. Recent meta-analyses have found that sarcopenia is not linked to postoperative complications. It is still debated whether there is a link between sarcopenia and drug toxicity during chemotherapy. The relationship between sarcopenia and immunity has been investigated, but the mechanism is still unknown.

Comparing different boost concepts and beam configurations for proton therapy of pancreatic cancer

Background and Purpose

Interfractional geometrical and anatomical variations impact the accuracy of proton therapy for pancreatic cancer. This study investigated field-in-field (FIF) and simultaneous integrated boost (SIB) concepts for scanned proton therapy treatment with different beam configurations.

Materials and Methods

Robustly optimized treatment plans for fifteen patients were generated using FIF and SIB techniques with two, three, and four beams. The prescribed dose in 20 fractions was 60 Gy(RBE) for the internal gross tumor volume (IGTV) and 46 Gy(RBE) for the internal clinical target volume. Verification computed tomography (vCT) scans was performed on treatment days 1, 7, and 16. Initial treatment plans were recalculated on the rigidly registered vCTs. V100% and D95% for targets and D2cm3 for the stomach and duodenum were evaluated. Robustness evaluations (range uncertainty of 3.5 %) were performed to evaluate the stomach and duodenum dose-volume parameters.

Results

For all techniques, IGTV V100% and D95% decreased significantly when recalculating the dose on vCTs (p < 0.001). The median IGTV V100% and D95% over all vCTs ranged from 74.2 % to 90.2 % and 58.8 Gy(RBE) to 59.4 Gy(RBE), respectively. The FIF with two and three beams, and SIB with two beams maintained the highest IGTV V100% and D95%. In robustness evaluations, the ΔD2cm3 of stomach was highest in two beams plans, while the ΔD2cm3 of duodenum was highest in four beams plans, for both concepts.

Conclusion

Target coverage decreased when recalculating on CTs at different time for both concepts. The FIF with three beams maintained the highest IGTV coverage while sparing normal organs the most.

Low skeletal muscle mass predicts treatment response in oncology: a meta-analysis

OBJECTIVES

Low skeletal muscle mass (LSMM) predicts relevant clinical outcomes in oncologic patients. The purpose of this study was to perform a meta-analysis of data regarding associations between LSMM and treatment response (TR) in oncology.

METHODS

MEDLINE, Cochrane, and SCOPUS databases were screened for relationships between LSMM and TR in oncologic patients up to November 2022. Overall, 35 studies met the inclusion criteria. The meta-analysis was performed using RevMan 5.4 software.

RESULTS

The collected 35 studies comprised 3858 patients. In 1682 patients (43.6%), LSMM was diagnosed. In the overall sample, LSMM predicted a negatively objective response rate (ORR), OR = 0.70, 95% CI = (0.54-0.91), p = 0.007, and disease control rate (DCR), OR = 0.69, 95% CI = (0.50-0.95), p = 0.02. In the curative setting, LSMM predicted a negatively ORR, OR = 0.24, 95% CI = (0.12-0.50), p = 0.0001, but not DCR, OR = 0.60, 95% CI = (0.31-1.18), p = 0.14. In palliative treatment with conventional chemotherapies, LSMM did not predict ORR: OR = 0.94, 95% CI (0.57-1.55), p = 0.81, and DCR: OR = 1.13, 95% CI (0.38-3.40), p = 0.82. In palliative treatment with tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI), LSMM did not predict TR: ORR, OR = 0.74, 95% CI (0.44-1.26), p = 0.27, and DCR, OR = 1.04, 95% CI (0.53-2.05), p = 0.90. In palliative immunotherapy, LSMM tended to predict ORR, OR = 0.74, 95% CI = (0.54-1.01), p = 0.06, and predicted DCR, OR = 0.53, 95% CI = (0.37-0.76), p = 0.0006.

CONCLUSION

LSMM is a risk factor for poor TR in curative chemotherapy in the adjuvant and/or neoadjuvant setting. LSMM is a risk factor for treatment failure in treatment with immunotherapy. Finally, LSMM does not influence TR in palliative treatment with conventional chemotherapy and/or TKIs.

KEY POINTS

• Low skeletal muscle mass (LSMM) predicts treatment response (TR) to chemotherapy in the adjuvant and/or neoadjuvant setting. • LSMM predicts TR in immunotherapy. • LSMM does not influence TR in palliative chemotherapy.

Clinical Efficacy of Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy with Gemcitabine plus S-1 for Resectable Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma Compared with Upfront Surgery

BACKGROUND

The efficacy of neoadjuvant chemotherapy with gemcitabine plus S-1 (NAC-GS) in the prognosis of patients with resectable pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) has been reported. NAC-GS is now assumed to be a standard regimen for resectable PDAC in Japan. However, the reason for this improvement in prognosis remains unclear.

METHODS

In 2019, we introduced NAC-GS for resectable PDAC. From 2015 to 2021, 340 patients were diagnosed with resectable PDAC (anatomical and biological [carbohydrate antigen (CA) 19-9 < 500 U/mL]) and were divided according to the treatment period (upfront surgery [UPS] group, 2015-2019, n = 241; NAC-GS group, 2019-2021, n = 80). We used "intention-to-treat" analysis to compare the clinical outcomes of NAC-GS to those of UPS.

RESULTS

Of the 80 patients with NAC-GS, 75 (93.8%) completed two cycles of NAC-GS, and the resection rate of the NAC-GS group was comparable to that of the UPS group (92.5 vs. 91.3%, P = 0.73). The R0 resection rate was significantly higher in the NAC-GS group than in the UPS group (91.3 vs. 82.6%, P = 0.04), even though the surgical burden was smaller. Progression-free survival tended to be better (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.70, P = 0.06), and overall survival was significantly better in the NAC-GS group than in the UPS group (HR 0.55, P = 0.02).

CONCLUSIONS

NAC-GS provided improvements in microscopic invasion leading to a high R0 rate and smooth administration and completion of adjuvant therapy, which might lead to an improved prognosis in patients with resectable PDAC.

Negative prognostic impact of sarcopenia before and after neoadjuvant chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer

OBJECTIVES

To elucidate the prognostic impact of sarcopenia before and after neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) for pancreatic cancer (PC).

METHODS

We retrospectively studied 75 consecutive PC patients who underwent neoadjuvant gemcitabine plus S-1 combination therapy followed by pancreatectomy between 2008 and 2016. According to the skeletal muscle volume index (SMI), the patients were divided into the muscle attenuation group (MAG) and normal group (NG) before or after NAC. Prognostic factors for overall survival (OS) were analyzed by Cox proportional hazards models.

RESULTS

The MAG showed significantly poorer OS than the NG before and after NAC. Pre-NAC, median OS was 20.0 months in the MAG versus 49.0 months in the NG (p = 0.006). Post-NAC, median OS was 21.3 months in the MAG versus 48.8 months in the NG (p = 0.014). Multivariate analysis, excluding muscle attenuation after NAC because of confounding factors and lower hazard ratio (2.08, 95% confidence interval: 1.14-3.78, p = 0.016) than that before NAC (2.14, 1.23-3.70, p = 0.007) by univariate analysis, revealed the following independent prognostic factors: muscle attenuation pre-NAC (2.25, 1.26-4.05, p = 0.007); borderline resectability (1.96, 1.04-3.69, p = 0.038); operative blood loss (2.60, 1.38-4.88, p = 0.003); and distant metastasis (3.31, 1.40-7.82, p = 0.006).

CONCLUSIONS

Sarcopenia before and after NAC for PC is suggested to be a poor prognostic factor, with a stronger impact before than after NAC.

Sarcopenia in pancreatic cancer: Effect on patient outcomes

Pancreatic cancer is a challenging disease with an increasing incidence and extremely poor prognosis. The clinical outcomes of pancreatic cancer depend on tumor biology, responses to treatments, and malnutrition or cachexia. Sarcopenia represents a severe catabolic condition defined by the age-related loss of muscle mass and strength and affects as much as 70% of malnourished pancreatic cancer patients. The lumbar skeletal muscle index, defined as the total abdominal muscle area at the L3 vertebral level adjusted by the square of the height, is widely used for assessing sarcopenia in patients with pancreatic cancer. Several studies have suggested that sarcopenia may be a risk factor for perioperative complications and decreased recurrence-free or overall survival in patients with pancreatic cancer undergoing surgery. Sarcopenia could also intensify chemotherapy-induced toxicities and worsen the quality of life and survival in the neoadjuvant or palliative chemotherapy setting. Sarcopenia, not only at the time of diagnosis but also during treatment, decreases survival in patients with pancreatic cancer. Theoretically, multimodal interventions may improve sarcopenia and clinical outcomes; however, no study has reported positive results. Further prospective studies are needed to confirm the prognostic role of sarcopenia and the effects of multimodal interventions in patients with pancreatic cancer.

Body composition as a predictor of chemotherapy-related toxicity in pancreatic cancer patients: A systematic review

Objectives

The objective of this systematic review was to assess associations between quantitative body composition measures extracted from imaging examinations and chemotherapy-related toxicity in pancreatic cancer patients. A secondary objective was to evaluate the different definitions of sarcopenia across included studies.

Methods

This systematic review was conducted according to the PRISMA statement. A comprehensive literature search of three electronic databases was performed by two authors. For each eligible article, information was collected concerning the clinical setting; basic study; population characteristics; technical; body composition features evaluated; CA 19.9 tumor marker levels; chemotherapy drugs administered; toxicities (hematologic, nausea/vomiting, diarrhea, neuropathy, reduction of number of cycles, overall toxicity); association of body composition values with toxicities. The overall quality of the included studies was critically evaluated.

Results

After the initial retrieval of 1137 articles, the systematic review included 12 articles (1/12 in the neo-adjuvant setting; 2/12 in the adjuvant setting; 3/12 in the metastatic setting; 2/12 in the unresectable setting; the other 4/12 included more than one clinical setting). The number of patients included ranged between 17 and 251; mean/median age ranged between 63 and 77 years; the percentage of sarcopenic patients ranged between 23 and 76%. The most frequent body composition parameter evaluated was skeletal muscle index (11/12). Chemotherapy regimens included gemcitabine (as monotherapy or in combination with other drugs); FOLFIRINOX and S-1. Among the trials including gemcitabine, 2/9 demonstrated an association with toxicity, whereas 7/9 did not; among those including FOLFIRINOX, one demonstrated associated toxicity whereas the others did not. Altogether, 4/12 papers demonstrated an association between the body composition values and the development of chemotherapy-related toxicities.

Conclusions

There is a wide variability of results about the association of body composition and chemotherapy-related toxicity in PC patients. Furthermore, cut-off values to define sarcopenia in PC patients are not yet uniformly defined.

Systematic Review Registration

https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?ID=CRD42022337753, identifier CRD42022337753.

Impact of skeletal muscle loss during conversion therapy on clinical outcomes in lavage cytology positive patients with gastric cancer

Background

The relationship between sarcopenia and clinical outcomes during conversion therapy in patients with lavage cytology positive gastric cancer (GC-CY₁) remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate the impact of sarcopenia and skeletal muscle loss on the efficacy of conversion therapy, tumour response and survival in GC-CY₁ patients.

Methods

Retrospective analysis of data from a prospective trial of conversion therapy conducted between April 2018 and August 2019 in patients with GC-CY₁ (NCT03718624). Skeletal muscle index (SMI) was measured at the level of the third lumbar (L3) vertebra and the sarcopenia was defined using published cut-off points in all patients. We defined ΔSMI (%)/50 days above 9.53% for men and ΔSMI (%)/50 days above 8.81% for women as significant muscle loss (SML) and analysed the changes in skeletal muscle during conversion therapy in relation to treatment efficacy, survival and tumour response.

Results

Of the 36 patients, 7 patients (19.44%) developed sarcopenia before conversion therapy, 6 (16.67%) developed new sarcopenia after conversion therapy, and 8 (22.22%) developed SML during treatment. Multivariate analysis showed that sarcopenia before treatment [Odds Ratio (OR) =8.923, 95%CI: 1.341-25.321, p=0.002] and SML during treatment (OR=7.803, 95%CI: 1.106-16.189, p=0.001) had a negative impact on the success rate of conversion therapy. Cox multifactorial analysis found that pre-treatment sarcopenia [overall survival (OS): Hazard Ratio (HR) =6.341, 95%CI: 1.269-18.943, p=0.001; progression-free survival (PFS): HR=8.212, 95%CI: 1.569-36.582, p=0.001], newly developed sarcopenia after conversion therapy (OS: HR=3.189, 95%CI: 1.023-9.811, p=0.012; PFS: HR=3.084, 95%CI: 1.042-14.236, p=0.013) and the presence of SML during treatment (OS: HR=10.234, 95%CI: 2.532-54.231, p=0.002; PFS: HR=9.562, 95%CI: 2.341-38.092, p=0.002) were independent risk factor for OS and PFS in GC-CY₁ patients.

Conclusion

Pre-treatment sarcopenia and the presence of SML during treatment are strongly correlated with the immediate and long-term outcomes of GC-CY₁ patients and can be used as imaging markers to predict the treatment efficacy and prognosis of patients in clinical practice.

Pylorus-preserving versus Pylorus-resecting: Impact on dynamic changes of nutrition and body composition in pancreatic cancer patients before and after pancreatoduodenectomy

OBJECTIVES

To investigate if different methods of pancreatoduodenectomy (with or without pyloric preservation) would have different impacts on postoperative nutrition and body composition changes among pancreatic cancer patients.

METHODS

Demographic and clinicopathological data, perioperative data were collected, body composition (e.g. skeletal muscle cross-sectional area [CSA], visceral fat area [VFA]) were evaluated with abdominal CT before and after surgery. Sarcopenia patients' proportion changes were also recorded.

RESULTS

The hospital stay in the PRPD group was significantly less than that in the PPPD group (p < 0.05). A significant difference was found in CSA, skeletal muscle index (SMI), VFA, VFA/CSA and albumin (ALB) in both groups between preoperative, 3, and 12 months after surgery. The loss of visceral fat in the PRPD group was more prominent than that in the PPPD group at 3 months and 12 months after surgery (p < 0.05). VFA/CSA was higher in the PPPD group than in the PRPD group (3 months: p < 0.05, 12 months: p < 0.001). The proportion of sarcopenic patients increased significantly over time in the PPPD and PRPD groups (p < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

Postoperative CSA and VFA continued to significantly decrease in both PPPD and PRPD groups, while the incidence of sarcopenia continued to increase. Compared with PRPD, PPPD has a protective effect on visceral fat. PPPD may contribute to better maintaining visceral fat mass and blood ALB levels. CT quantification can be an objective and effective method to evaluate the nutritional status of pancreatic cancer patients during the pre- and postoperative period and can provide a useful objective basis for guiding clinical treatment.

Low skeletal muscle mass is a predictor of treatment related toxicity in oncologic patients. A meta-analysis

BACKGROUND & AIMS

The purpose of this meta-analysis was to summarize the published data regarding associations between occurrence of severe treatment related toxicity and low skeletal muscle mass (LSMM) in oncologic patients and to perform a meta-analysis based on a large sample.

METHODS

MEDLINE, Cochrane, and SCOPUS databases were screened for associations between LSMM and treatment related toxicity in oncologic patients up to June 2021. Overall, 48 studies met the inclusion criteria. The following data were extracted: authors, year of publication, study design, number of patients, influence of LSMM on treatment toxicity (odds ratios and confidence intervals). The methodological quality of the involved studies was checked according to the QUADAS instrument. The meta-analysis was undertaken by using RevMan 5.4 software. DerSimonian and Laird random-effects models with inverse-variance weights were used to account for the heterogeneity between the studies.

RESULTS

The included 48 studies comprised 4803 patients with different malignant diseases. LSMM occurred in 1966 patients (40.9%). LSMM was associated with therapy toxicity (simple logistic regression) with an odds ratio OR = 2.19, CI95%= (1.78-2.68). LSMM was associated with DLT in patients underwent curative treatment (16 studies, 2381 patients) with OR = 2.48, CI95%= (1.77-3.48). LSMM predicted DLT in patients underwent palliative chemotherapy (30 studies, 2337 patients)with OR = 2.06, CI95%= (1.56-2.74). In the subgroups received different palliative therapies, relationships between LSMM and DLT were as follows: conventional chemotherapies (7 studies, 600 patients) OR = 2.14, CI95%= (1.38-3.31); different kinases inhibitors (13 studies, 906 patients) OR = 3.08, CI95%= (1.87-5.09); checkpoint inhibitors (7 studies, 557 patients) OR = 1.30, CI95%= (0.79-2.11).

CONCLUSIONS

LSMM is an essential factor of treatment toxicity in oncologic patients. Association between LSMM and DLT is strongest in patients received therapy with kinases inhibitors. The influence of LSMM on DLT is lowest in patients underwent treatment with checkpoint inhibitors. The presence of LSMM should be included into radiological reports and provided to oncologists to optimize chemotherapy. LSMM should be included into dose calculation for chemotherapy.