Prognostic Effects of Sarcopenia on Patients with Bladder Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Abstract

Sarcopenia can negatively impact the survival of cancer patients. This study intends to delve into the correlation of sarcopenia with survival and complications in patients with bladder cancer (BC) after surgery. Web of Science, Cochrane Library, Embase, and PubMed databases were retrieved up to April 7, 2023, to collect studies on the impact of sarcopenia on the prognosis of adults with BC. Primary outcomes encompassed overall survival (OS), cancer-specific survival (CSS), and recurrence-free survival (RFS). The secondary outcome consisted of postoperative complications. A meta-analysis was conducted using Stata. Forest plots and summary effect models were employed to present the results. The quality of eligible studies was assessed using the Newcastle–Ottawa Scale (NOS). Initially, 1713 studies were identified through searches across four databases, and 26 studies were ultimately included in the analysis. Sarcopenia was significantly associated with OS (HR:1.62; 95% CI: 1.43–1.83; P < 0.001, I² = 0.9%), CSS (HR: 1.81, 95% CI: 1.52–2.15, P < 0.001, I² = 0.0%), and RFS (HR: 1.76, 95% CI: 1.21–2.56, P = 0.003, I² = 0.0%) in BC patients. Subgroup analyses revealed that sarcopenia is strongly linked to prognosis and postoperative complications in BC patients.

Keywords:

• Bladder cancer
• meta-analysis
• prognosis
• sarcopenia
• skeletal muscle index

Acknowledgments

Not applicable.

Author contributions

Conceptualization: Yinghan Zeng; Methodology: Yinghan Zeng, Chengna Cai; Formal analysis and investigation: Yinghan Zeng; Writing–original draft preparation: Yinghan Zeng, Chengna Cai; Writing–review and editing: Yinghan Zeng, Chengna Cai, Nafen Pan; Funding acquisition: Yinghan Zeng; Resources: Yinghan Zeng; Supervision: Yinghan Zeng, Nafen Pan and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Declaration of interest

The authors report there are no competing interests to declare.

Data availability

Data sharing is not applicable to this article as no datasets were generated or analyzed during the current study.

Additional information

Funding

The authors declare that no funds, grants, or other support were received during the preparation of this manuscript.