Visceral fat area and subcutaneous fat area as measures of body composition in soft tissue sarcoma

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BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Soft tissue sarcomas (STS) are a heterogenous group of malignancies of mesenchymal origin. Given recent data linking obesity as well as the pattern of fat distribution with cancer outcomes, we sought to investigate the association of visceral fat area (VFA) and subcutaneous fat area (SFA) with oncologic outcomes in patients with STS undergoing surgery. METHODS: We analyzed data from 88 patients with STS diagnosed from 2008 to 2022. Predictor variables included body mass index (BMI), VFA, and SFA. VFA and SFA were obtained from computed tomography of the abdomen and pelvis. Univariable and multivariable Cox regression analysis was used to analyze associations between predictor variables and overall survival and recurrence-free survival. RESULTS: Although BMI was closely correlated with VFA (r = 0.69, p < 0.0001) and SFA (r = 0.80, p < 0.0001), there was no significant association between high BMI, VFA or SFA, and worse oncologic outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: Although VFA and SFA are strongly correlated with BMI, we did not observe BMI nor imaging metrics of fat composition to be associated with worse oncologic outcomes. Further research is needed to elucidate any links between body fat content and metabolic or immune factors governing oncologic outcomes in STS.