Background: Reduced muscle mass has been associated with increased treatment complications in several tumor types. We evaluated the impact of skeletal muscle index (SMI) on prognosis and immune-related adverse events (IrAEs) in a cohort of recurrent/metastatic (R/M) head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) treated with immune checkpoints inhibitors (ICI).
Methods: A single-institutional, retrospective study was performed including 61 consecutive patients of R/M HNSCC diagnosed between July 2015 and December 2018. SMI was quantified using a CT scan at L3 to evaluate body composition. Median baseline SMI was used to dichotomize patients in low and high SMI. Kaplan-Meier estimations were used to detect overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS). Toxicity was recorded using Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Event v4.3.
Results: Patients were 52 men (85.2%) with mean of age 57.7 years (SD 9.62), mainly oral cavity (n = 21; 34.4%). Low SMI was an independent factor for OS in the univariate (HR, 2.06; 95% CI, 1.14-3.73, p = 0.017) and multivariate Cox analyses (HR, 2.99; 95% CI, 1.29-6.94; p = 0.011). PFS was also reduced in patients with low SMI (PFS HR, 1.84; 95% CI, 1.08-3.12; p = 0.025). IrAEs occurred in 29 (47.5%) patients. There was no association between low SMI and IrAEs at any grade (OR, 0.56; 95% CI, 0.20-1.54; p = 0.261). However, grades 3 to 4 IrAEs were developed in seven patients of whom three had low SMI.
Conclusions: Low SMI before ICI treatment in R/M HNSCC patients had a negative impact on OS and PFS. Further prospective research is needed to confirm the role of body composition as a predictive biomarker in ICI treatment.
Keywords: body composition; head and neck (H&N) cancer; immune checkpoint inhibitors; immune-related adverse events (irAE); muscle mass; sarcopenia.
Copyright © 2021 Arribas, Plana, Taberna, Sospedra, Vilariño, Oliva, Pallarés, González Tampán, Del Rio, Mesia and Baracos.