Albumin-myosteatosis gauge as a prognostic factor in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer undergoing first-line chemotherapy

Sarcopenia and myosteatosis have been associated with a poor prognosis for several cancers. The albumin-myosteatosis gauge (AMG) is a novel integrated measure proposed to assess myosteatosis along with serum albumin level as a surrogate of systemic inflammation and malnutrition. The aim of this study was to investigate the prognostic value of AMG in patients with advanced pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC).

Patients with advanced PDAC treated with chemotherapy between 2013 and 2022 were evaluated. Skeletal muscle radiodensity (SMD) and skeletal muscle index (SMI) were calculated using computed tomography at the level of the L3 vertebra. The AMG was defined as albumin x SMD and expressed as an arbitrary unit (AU). Patients were first categorized by sex-specific quartiles and then dichotomized at the sex-specific median value of the AMG.

A total of 196 patients were included. The median age (interquartile range) was 62 (54–67), and 128 (65.3%) were male. With regard to AMG, 142.86 and 114.15 AU were identified as cutoff values for males and females, respectively. In multivariable analyses, lower AMG values (G1-G2 vs. G3-G4) (HR: 1.61, 95% CI 1.17–2.21, p = 0.003), higher ECOG performance score (> 0 vs. 0) (HR: 1.51, 95% CI 1.10–2.06, p = 0.009) and metastatic disease (vs. locally advanced) (HR: 1.88, 95% CI 1.27–2.79, p = 0.001) were associated with OS.

The study findings suggest the prognostic value of AMG in patients with advanced PDAC undergoing first-line chemotherapy. Further studies are warranted to validate these findings and assess potential predictive role of AMG in guiding treatment selection.