Parameters of body composition do not predict survival in patients with multiple myeloma undergoing autologous stem cell transplantation

Abstract

Studies regarding the influence of body composition parameters as predictors on overall survival (OS) in patients with multiple myeloma (MM) are scarce. OS and progression-free survival (PFS) were retrospectively assessed in 129 patients with MM undergoing autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) after a follow-up of 2 years. A computed tomography (CT) based semi-automated assessment of body composition was performed. No statistically significant differences were noted in 2-year OS, PFS, or post-transplant adverse events in the body composition groups of subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) (low vs. high-SAT), visceral adipose tissue (VAT) (low vs. high-VAT), visceral-to-subcutaneous fat ratio (VSR) (low vs. high VSR), and sarcopenia in terms of skeletal muscle index (SMI) (non-sarcopenic vs. sarcopenic). In conclusion, adipose and muscle tissue do not limit OS or affect the PFS in patients with MM undergoing ASCT.

Keywords:

• Multiple myeloma
• visceral adipose tissue
• sarcopenia
• survival

Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge Wiebke Flintrop for proofreading, language editing, and grammatical correction to improve this article.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability Statement

All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this article. Further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author (F.B.)

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.