Aim: To investigate whether muscle and adipose mass are associated with radiation pneumonitis (RP) in patients with non-small cell lung cancer undergoing preoperative concurrent chemoradiotherapy.
Patients and methods: We calculated body mass index and determined skeletal muscle, psoas muscle, visceral adipose tissue (VAI), and subcutaneous adipose tissue indices, and visceral-to-subcutaneous adipose tissue area ratio for patients using computed tomography. We examined their relationship with grade 2 or more RP.
Results: Among 94 patients, 28 experienced grade 2 or more RP. On multivariate analysis, only VAI was associated with grade 2 or more RP (all p=0.026). The 6-month incidence rates of grade 2 or more RP were 21.4% and 36.8% in patients with VAI <39 and ≥39 cm 2 /m 2 , respectively.
Conclusion: High visceral adipose mass is associated with grade 2 or more RP in patients undergoing preoperative concurrent chemoradiotherapy. Measuring visceral adipose mass may help to predict RP occurrence. Further studies are needed to validate our findings.
Keywords: Non-small-cell lung cancer; chemoradiotherapy; intraabdominal fat; lung neoplasms; radiation pneumonitis.
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