Determinants of skeletal muscle loss during initial treatment in patients with ovarian cancer: a brief report

TL;DR

This study explores why patients with ovarian cancer lose skeletal muscle during initial treatment and finds no single clear predictor.

Contribution

The study investigates the determinants of early skeletal muscle loss in ovarian cancer patients using clinical and inflammatory factors.

Findings

Elevated neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio and residual tumor were linked to muscle loss in univariate analysis.

No independent biomarker for early skeletal muscle loss was identified after multivariate adjustment.

Muscle loss may reflect overall disease burden rather than isolated factors.

Abstract

We previously reported that skeletal muscle loss during initial treatment is associated with poor outcomes in ovarian cancer. However, its clinical determinants remain incompletely understood.

We analyzed a previously characterized cohort of patients with ovarian cancer to identify clinical and inflammatory factors associated with skeletal muscle loss during initial treatment. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed using clinical variables, inflammatory markers, and tumor-related factors.

In univariate analysis, elevated neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio and the presence of residual tumor were associated with skeletal muscle loss. However, after multivariate adjustment, no variable remained independently associated with muscle loss, and no single clinical or laboratory parameter emerged as a significant predictor.

No independent biomarker predicting early skeletal muscle loss was identified. These findings suggest that muscle loss during initial treatment reflects the overall burden of disease rather than isolated inflammatory or tumor-related factors. Tumor-driven metabolic alterations may contribute to this process and warrant further investigation.