Longitudinal Changes in CT Body Composition in Patients Undergoing Surgery for Colorectal Cancer and Associations With Peri-Operative Clinicopathological Characteristics.

There is evidence for the direct association between body composition, the magnitude of the systemic inflammatory response, and outcomes in patients with colorectal cancer. Patients with a primary operable disease with and without follow-up CT scans were examined in this study. CT scans were used to define the presence and changes in subcutaneous fat, visceral fat, skeletal muscle mass, and skeletal muscle density (SMD).

The relationship between computed tomography-derived body composition, systemic inflammatory response, and survival in patients undergoing surgery for colorectal cancer.

Introduction: Colorectal cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer mortality in developed countries. There is evidence supporting a disproportionate loss of skeletal muscle as an independent prognostic factor. The importance of the systemic inflammatory response as a unifying mechanism for specific loss of skeletal muscle mass in patients with cancer is increasingly recognized.