Sarcopenia and outcomes in patients diagnosed with penile cancer

  • Research type

    Research Study

  • Full title

    Assessing Sarcopenia and morbidity and mortality outcomes in metastatic and non-metastatic penile cancer

  • IRAS ID

    182209

  • Contact name

    Michelle Christodoulidou

  • Contact email

    ematmichelle@hotmail.com

  • Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier

    15/0396, R&Dnumber

  • Duration of Study in the UK

    0 years, 11 months, 31 days

  • Research summary

    Introduction
    Penile cancer is a rare disease with an incidence of 1:100 000 in Europe. There is very little evidence in the current literature investigating sarcopenia in patients with penile cancer and whether it affects their disease specific prognosis and morbidity related to surgical treatment and chemo-radiotherapy interventions.
    Aim
    The aim of this study is to investigate whether sarcopenia is related to morbidity and whether it can be used as a predictive factor for metastatic disease, prognosis and response to chemo-radiotherapy treatment in patients with metastatic and non-metastatic penile cancer.
    Place of study
    University College London Hospital as a tertiary centre, receives patients from London, Surrey and Reading and therefore has approximately 80 new penile cancer referrals per year.
    Study Design
    Case-controlled retrospective observational study
    Cohorts
    We will identify the cohorts from a UCLH dataset of patients diagnosed with penile cancer and treated in our unit since 2005.
    This study will have two patient cohorts; 50 patients diagnosed with metastatic penile cancer treated with either chemotherapy or radiotherapy, and 50 patients with non-metastatic cancer who had no evidence of local or regional recurrence on follow up after treatment of their primary lesion.
    Objectives
    Primary objective: We will assess whether sarcopenia is associated with decreased overall survival.
    Secondary objectives: We will review if there is any association between sarcopenia and; chemotherapy toxicity, radiotherapy complications and post-operative complications in patients receiving treatment for penile cancer.
    Methodology
    Sarcopenia will be assessed by importing pseudo-anonymised Computerised Tomography Images (Slices Lumbar L3 and L4/5) to a specialised software in measuring body composition. According to international consensus, sarcopenia is classified as a skeletal muscle index of <55cm2/m2 for men. These results will be validated with a nutritional team from University of Manchester with expertise in this area. Sarcopenia will then be correlated with patients’ clinical outcomes.

  • REC name

    Yorkshire & The Humber - South Yorkshire Research Ethics Committee

  • REC reference

    15/YH/0421

  • Date of REC Opinion

    15 Sep 2015

  • REC opinion

    Favourable Opinion