Computed Tomography-assessed Skeletal Muscle Index and Skeletal Muscle Radiation Attenuation in Patients With Ovarian Cancer Treated With Primary Surgery Followed by Platinum-based Chemotherapy: A Single-center Italian Study

Aim: To assess the prognostic relevance of baseline and post-treatment skeletal muscle index (SMI) and skeletal muscle radiation attenuation (SMRA) at the level of third lumbar vertebra in patients with ovarian cancer who underwent primary surgery and platinum-based chemotherapy. Patients and Methods: This retrospective investigation analyzed 134 patients who underwent staging computed tomography, surgery, chemotherapy and posttreatment computed tomography. Results: At univariate analysis, stage (p<0.0001), histotype (p=0.01), residual disease (p<0.0001) and treatment response (p<0.0001) correlated with progression-free survival (PFS), whereas age (p=0.004), stage (p=0.006), residual disease (p<0.0001) and treatment response (p<0.0001) were associated with overall survival (OS). Neither baseline nor post-treatment SMI and SMRA had prognostic relevance. At multivariate analysis, residual disease and treatment response correlated with PFS (p<0.0001 and p<0.0001) and OS (p=0.007 and p<0.0001), whilst age was an independent prognostic variable for OS (p=0.02). Conclusion: Baseline and post-treatment SMI and SMRA did not correlate with patient outcome in this clinical setting.