One-year longitudinal association between changes in aortic regional morphology and muscle mass in cancer

TL;DR

This study finds that changes in aortic shape and muscle mass are linked in cancer patients, suggesting muscle loss may increase cardiovascular risk.

Contribution

The study reveals a novel association between muscle mass changes and aortic morphology in cancer patients over one year.

Findings

A significant increase in aortic diameter and tortuosity and a decrease in muscle mass were observed.

Muscle mass changes were correlated with aortic morphology, diastolic pressure, HDL cholesterol, and C-reactive protein.

Increased muscle mass is associated with reduced aortic diameter and tortuosity in cancer patients.

Abstract

Cancer confers the risk for cardiovascular diseases. This longitudinal study aimed to explore the relationship between changes in aortic morphology and muscle mass in cancer. One hundred patients with cancer who underwent thoracoabdominal enhanced computed tomography (CT) at baseline and 1-year follow-up were retrospectively included. Aortic diameter and tortuosity were assessed using CT. Skeletal muscle mass was also evaluated. Pearson correlation analysis and multivariate-adjusted regression models were used to explore the relationship between changes in aortic morphology and muscle mass. Thirty-six patients were male. The average patient age was 57.3 ± 11.3 years. Breast cancer was the most common malignancy. A significant increase in aortic diameter and tortuosity and a decrease in muscle mass were observed. Aortic morphological changes were correlated with changes in muscle mass, diastolic pressure, and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and C-reactive protein levels. In the fully adjusted multivariable regression analysis, a one-unit increase in muscle mass change was associated with a decrease of 0.503, 0.382, 0.241, 0.174, and 0.163 mm in the diameter of the L1-L5 aortic segments, respectively; a 0.020 decrease in aortic tortuosity; a 0.017 decrease in descending thoracic tortuosity; and a 0.016 decrease in abdominal aortic tortuosity. Increased muscle mass helps maintain aortic morphology in cancer, suggesting that muscle loss is a key factor in increased cardiovascular risk. Muscle might be an important therapeutic target to improve cancer patients’ prognosis.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1038/s41598-025-06189-1.

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