SEOUL — A South Korean research team has found that a simple blood test before surgery can help predict the risk of skeletal muscle loss in colorectal cancer patients following operations, according to reports from DailyMedi.
Predicting Postoperative Muscle Vulnerability
Patients undergoing cancer surgery frequently experience muscle reduction due to malnutrition and lack of exercise, factors that can delay recovery and negatively impact clinical outcomes. While computed tomography (CT) scans have traditionally been used to measure muscle mass, they have limitations in proactively predicting a patient's vulnerability to subsequent muscle wasting.
To address this, researchers at Gangnam Severance Hospital—led by Professors Chul-Woo Ahn (Endocrinology) and Jung-Hyun Kang (Colorectal Surgery), alongside colleagues Yu-Sik Kim, Ji-Sun Nam, Su-Jin Shin, and Young-Hyun Kim—investigated the role of "musclin." Musclin is a type of myokine, a hormone primarily expressed and secreted by skeletal muscles, known to help maintain muscle mass, regulate muscle metabolism, and suppress protein breakdown.
Research Findings and Clinical Implications
The research team evaluated 106 colorectal cancer patients (average age 63.3) who underwent surgery at Gangnam Severance Hospital, measuring their preoperative blood musclin concentrations and inflammatory markers. Analyzing 95 patients who had available pre- and postoperative CT tracking over a median interval of approximately 6.5 months, the team observed that 28.4% of the analyzed group experienced a skeletal muscle index (SMI) decrease of over 5% after surgery.
Multivariate analysis adjusted for variables such as age, sex, and inflammation indicators revealed that higher preoperative blood musclin levels correlated with better skeletal muscle retention and a lower risk of postoperative muscle reduction.
The study highlights that identifying high-risk groups for sarcopenia prior to surgery through blood testing can assist clinicians in establishing better patient management strategies. The findings were published in the international surgical oncology journal EJSO (European Journal of Surgical Oncology).
