The impact of sarcopenia on patients undergoing treatment for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma

Introduction: Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a deadly cancer that disproportionately affects geriatric patients. Combination therapy with surgery and chemotherapy is associated with longer survival than medical treatment or supportive care. Preoperative selection of patients for surgical treatment, based on patient-specific factors such as sarcopenia, may help risk-stratify patients and improve outcomes. This paper aims to review the current literature on the impact of sarcopenia and sarcopenic obesity on patients undergoing treatment for PDAC.Outcomes: The impact of sarcopenia and sarcopenia obesity on perioperative and long-term outcomes after treatment for PDAC is variable. Sarcopenia has been associated with high-grade complications, longer length of hospital, and intensive care unit stays, more frequent discharge to skilled nursing facilities and decreased utilization of adjuvant therapy in patients treated with curative intent surgery. Sarcopenic obesity has been associated with more complications, high-grade complications, and hematologic toxicities. Patients with sarcopenic obesity may have even lower overall survival than sarcopenic patients.Discussion: The effect of a pre-treatment diagnosis of sarcopenia or sarcopenic obesity on outcomes for patients undergoing treatment for PDAC remains unknown, in part due to the heterogeneity of studies and definitions. Prehabilitation programs including resistance exercise and nutritional supplementation have shown benefit in sarcopenic patients.Conclusion: PDAC remains a deadly disease and patient-specific factors such as sarcopenia and sarcopenic obesity identified at the time of cancer diagnosis offer potential as risk stratification measures and points of intervention. Currently, a paucity of standardized measurement tools, definitions, and prehabilitation regimens limits the clinical implementation of such knowledge.