Sarcopenic obesity in early breast cancer patients with metabolic syndrome: a cross-sectional study.

The importance of sarcopenic obesity (SO) in malignancy has recently been recognized. The authors aimed to investigate the clinical and body composition data of early-stage breast cancer (BC) patients by focusing on the components of metabolic syndrome (MetS) and SO. In this cross-sectional study with early-stage BC patients, the clinical and laboratory results were evaluated for diagnosing MetS. Bioimpedance analysis and muscle radiation attenuation (Hounsfield unit average calculation [HUAC]) using acquired computed tomography images were used to assess SO. The age at diagnosis, BMI, visceral fat ratio, hemoglobin A1c and CEA levels in patients with MetS were significantly higher (p < 0.05). A cutoff value of 39.4 Hounsfield units was significantly related to MetS with 76.5% sensitivity and 62% specificity. The mean HUAC in patients with MetS (36.9) was significantly lower than in those without MetS (41.4; p = 0.017). HUAC value predicted SO in early-stage BC patients with MetS.