The Prognostic Utility of the Triceps Skinfold Thickness Albumin Index in Colorectal Cancer Patients with Cachexia

• Published in: Nutrition and cancer Vol. 77; no. 2; pp. 265 - 275
• Main Authors: Liu, Xiao-Yue, Lin, Shi-Qi, Ruan, Guo-Tian, Zheng, Xin, Chen, Yue, Zhang, He-yang, Liu, Tong, Xie, Hai-Lun, Shi, Han-Ping
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Taylor & Francis 07.02.2025; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Adipose tissue; Aged; Albumin; Biomarkers; Cachexia; Cachexia - etiology; Cachexia - mortality; Cancer; Cohort Studies; Colorectal cancer; Colorectal carcinoma; colorectal neoplasms; Colorectal Neoplasms - complications; Colorectal Neoplasms - mortality; death; Female; females; hazard ratio; Health risks; Humans; Kaplan-Meier Estimate; Male; Males; Malnutrition; Medical prognosis; Middle Aged; Mortality; nutrition; Nutritional Status; Prognosis; Proportional Hazards Models; Quality of Life; Regression analysis; Regression models; risk; Serum albumin; Serum Albumin - analysis; Skinfold Thickness; Thickness
• DOI: 10.1080/01635581.2024.2416250
• ISSN: 0163-5581; 1532-7914

To develop a simple and convenient inflammation-nutrition-adiposity biomarker to complement the TNM staging system, further assess the prognosis of patients with colorectal cancer cachexia. This study was a multi-centre cohort study. The triceps skinfold thickness-albumin index (TA) was calculated by combining the triceps skinfold thickness (TSF) and serum albumin levels. Kaplan-Meier analysis and Cox proportional risk regression models were used to assess the relationship between the TA and all-cause mortality. Internal validation was carried out. We included 1025 patients with colorectal cancer cachexia, 61.2% of whom were male, with a mean age of 58.91 (12.45) years. As the TA increased, overall mortality decreased in female patients (hazard ratio [HR], 0.95) but not in male patients (HR, 0.99). Multivariate Cox analysis showed that patients in the normal TA group had a significantly lower risk of death than those in the low TA group (HR, 0.53, 95% CI, 0.40-0.72). Patients with a normal TA had a lower risk of malnutrition, poor quality of life, and poor short-term prognosis than those with a low TA. TA index enables clinicians to assess the prognosis of patients as early as possible to improve the survival of patients with colorectal cancer cachexia.