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World J Gastrointest Oncol. Feb 15, 2022; 14(2): 423-433
Published online Feb 15, 2022. doi: 10.4251/wjgo.v14.i2.423
Relation between skeletal muscle volume and prognosis in rectal cancer patients undergoing neoadjuvant therapy
Paola De Nardi, Alessandro Giani, Giulia Maggi, Marco Braga
Paola De Nardi, Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milano 20132, Italy
Alessandro Giani, Department of Surgery, School of Medicine, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan Italy, Monza 20900, Italy
Giulia Maggi, Department of Oncologic Surgery, Policlinico Casilino, Rome 00169, Italy
Marco Braga, Department of Surgery, San Gerardo Hospital, University Milano Bicocca, Monza 20900, Italy
Author contributions: De Nardi P designed the study, drafted the manuscript, participated in the acquisition, analysis, and interpretation of the data and approved the final version; Giani A and Maggi G participated in the acquisition, analysis and interpretation of the data, drafted the manuscript and approved the final version; Braga M participated in the analysis and interpretation of the data, revised the article critically for important intellectual content and approved the final version.
Conflict-of-interest statement: Authors declare no conflict of interest for this article.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Paola De Nardi, FASCRS, Staff Physician, Surgeon, Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Via Olgettina 60, Milano 20132, Italy. denardi.paola@hsr.it
Received: March 18, 2021
Peer-review started: March 18, 2021
First decision: July 16, 2021
Revised: August 1, 2021
Accepted: January 6, 2022
Article in press: January 6, 2022
Published online: February 15, 2022
Core Tip

Core Tip: Rectal cancer is one of the most common cancers worldwide. The present review explores the potential prognostic role of muscle depletion in patients undergoing curative surgery for rectal cancer after neoadjuvant treatment. Evidence supports the hypothesis that sarcopenic patients, and patients in whom a decrement in muscle mass is detected during neoadjuvant treatment, are considered at greater risk of tumor recurrence and tumor death. Despite this observation, assessment of muscle mass is mostly neglected while it could inform on prognosis as well as guide in optimal treatment.