Effects of Sarcopenia on Early Postoperative Outcomes in Patients Undergoing Surgical Treatment for Gastric Cancer

Among gastrointestinal disease, gastric cancer is a malignancy which is diagnosed predominantly in advanced stages, mostly accompanied with malnutrition when diagnosed, has aggressive behavior with poor oncological outcomes. The only option for curative treatment is surgical resection in this malignancy; however, the surgical procedure itself causes high morbidity and mortality rates. Therefore, physicians combine various treatment modalities and risk assessment to decrease complication and mortality rates.

Sarcopenia is a syndrome characterized by progressive and generalized loss of skeletal muscle mass and strength with a risk of adverse outcomes such as physical disability, poor quality of life, and death. For the diagnosis of sarcopenia, using the presence of both low muscle mass and decreased muscle function (strength or performance) is recommended. Previous studies showed that colorectal or pancreatic cancer accompanied with sarcopenia has adverse effects on not only for short term and also for long term outcomes. The majority of studies regarding gastric cancer was published from Eastern countries owing to their high incidence. There are few studies from western countries which are mostly retrospective and does not meet the diagnostic criteria of sarcopenia. In the western population, there is no high-quality evidence so far regarding the impact of sarcopenia on early outcomes of gastric cancer surgical treatment.