Retrospective cohort study investigating the relationship of both CT-defined sarcopenia and systemic inflammation on outcomes for patients with hypopharyngeal and advanced stage laryngeal squamous cell carcinomas

A2002673

Sarcopenia is a syndrome characterised by a progressive and generalised loss of skeletal muscle mass and strength and is correlated with poor health outcomes. States of systemic inflammation can be identified from routine blood tests and, similarly to sarcopenia, have also been correlated with poor health outcomes.

Research investigating the influence of sarcopenia or systemic inflammation on survival in cancer patients has seen a considerable uptick in recent years, however far less work has been done to study the effects of both of these factors on the same patient cohort.

This work is even more sparse when considering head and neck cancer patients and is entirely absent for patients with advanced laryngeal or hypopharyngeal cancer.  Providing an accurate prognosis for these patients is challenging, and patients may be treated with curative intent inappropriately.

These treatments carry high symptomatic burdens and can result in unnecessary patient suffering without curing the disease. It is clear therefore that better tools to allow for more accurate prognostication are required in this patient cohort. By analysing CT scans and blood tests taken at the time of diagnosis, the team hope to investigate whether CT-defined sarcopenia and markers of systemic inflammation hold this potential in improving the prognostication process for these patients. In doing so help to identify patients more likely to benefit from symptomatic management of their disease and at the same time ensure allocation of treatment resources to those most likely to benefit from curative intervention. 

Lead Researcher	Dr. Thomas Khan-White FY2 Doctor – Academic Training Pathway
Co-Researchers	Mr James Moor Prof Andy Scarsbrook Dr Sriram Vaidyanathan
Host Organisation/CSU	Emergency and Specialty Medicine Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
Grant Amount	£611.92
Start Date	10/01/2024
Estimated Duration	8 months
Impact Areas	Health Inequalities – Cancer Care
Tags/key notes	Early Career Researcher Cancer and Neoplasms