PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - GIANLUCA FERINI AU - ALBERTO CACCIOLA AU - SILVANA PARISI AU - SARA LILLO AU - LAURA MOLINO AU - CONSUELO TAMBURELLA AU - VALERIO DAVI AU - ILENIA NAPOLI AU - ANGELO PLATANIA AU - NICOLA SETTINERI AU - GIUSEPPE IATI AU - ANTONIO PONTORIERO AU - STEFANO PERGOLIZZI AU - ANNA SANTACATERINA TI - Curative Radiotherapy in Elderly Patients With Muscle Invasive Bladder Cancer: The Prognostic Role of Sarcopenia AID - 10.21873/invivo.12293 DP - 2021 Jan 01 TA - In Vivo PG - 571--578 VI - 35 IP - 1 4099 - http://iv.iiarjournals.org/content/35/1/571.short 4100 - http://iv.iiarjournals.org/content/35/1/571.full SO - In Vivo2021 Jan 01; 35 AB - Background/Aim: To evaluate the impact of sarcopenia in muscle invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) elderly patients submitted to curative radiotherapy. Patients and Methods: Patients received radiotherapy between 2013 and 2018, and the skeletal muscle index was calculated to classify them as sarcopenic or non-sarcopenic. Primary endpoints were overall survival (OS), cancer specific survival (CSS), 90-day mortality and toxicity. Results: A total of 28 patients with a median age of 85 years met our inclusion criteria and 8 of them were sarcopenic. With a median prescribed dose of 61 Gy and a median follow-up of 24.5 months, OS rates in the sarcopenic and non-sarcopenic groups were 100% and 84.4% at 3 months, 57.1% and 56.6% at 12 months, 38.1% and 50.3% at 24 months and 38.1% and 33.5% at 48 months, respectively; the CSS rates were 100% and 94.1% at 3 months and 68.6% and 88.2% at 12, 24 and 48 months, respectively. The actuarial 90-day mortality rate was 17.9% for the whole cohort, and 20% and 12.5% for the non-sarcopenic and sarcopenic groups, respectively. The radio-induced toxicity was similar in both groups. Conclusion: Sarcopenia cannot be considered a negative prognostic factor for MIBC elderly patients treated with external beam radiotherapy. Irradiation is therefore a feasible and effective choice for these patients, especially if unfit for surgery.