Calf circumference, triceps-skinfold thickness predict death risk in cancer patients

Assessment of the calf circumference (CC) and the triceps-skinfold thickness (TSF) in hospitalized cancer patients is essential in guiding intervention to improve their long-term outcomes, suggests a study.

A team of investigators conducted an observational cohort study including 12,138 cancer patients at five institutions in China. They obtained data on demographics, disease, nutritional status, and anthropometric measurements (AMs), including the body mass index, mid-arm muscle circumference, mid-arm circumference, handgrip strength, CC, and TSF, which were also assessed as mortality predictors.

The thresholds to categorize prognostic AMs were determined using the optimal stratification. In addition, their associations with mortality were evaluated independently and jointly by calculating multivariable-adjusted hazard ratios (HRs).

Cancer patients consisted of 5,744 females and 6,394 males, with a mean age of 56.9 years. Both CC and TSF were found to be better predictors of mortality than other AMs. The optimal thresholds for CC were 30 cm in women and 32.8 cm in men, while those for TSF were 21.8 mm in women and 13.6 mm in men.

Patients in the low CC or low TSF groups had a 13-percent (HR, 1.13, 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 1.03‒1.23) and 22-percent (HR, 1.22, 95 percent CI, 1.12‒1.32) higher mortality risk than those with normal CC or TSF, respectively. Concomitant low CC and low TSF also exhibited joint effect on mortality risk (HR, 1.39, 95 percent CI, 1.25‒1.55).

“AMs are cost-effective surrogates for evaluating body size,” the investigators said.