Association between lymphocyte-monocyte ratio and sarcopenia in Indonesian breast cancer patients

Abstract

Background: Breast cancer is a chronic disease which promote muscle atrophy, hence causing sarcopenia. Researchers found that sarcopenia in solid tumor is associated with poor prognosis. However, there were poor diagnostic systems and lack of clinical awareness toward sarcopenia incidence in Indonesian breast cancer patients. Inflammatory markers played significant role in sarcopenia pathogenesis, therefore they had the potential to be a novel diagnostic biomarker. Objective(s): This study aims to know the association between lymphocyte-monocyte ratio and sarcopenia in Indonesian breast cancer patients. Method(s): A cross-sectional study was conducted on January 2018 in SiloamGeneral Hospital. Lymphocyte-monocyte ratio was gathered from blood laboratory exam results and sarcopenia was scored using Subjective Global Assessment (SGA) tool. Baseline characteristics were presented using descriptive statistics. Association between both variables was analyzed with Mann-Whitney U Test using SPSS version 23.0. Result(s): A total of 19 breast cancer participants were enrolled to the study. From SGA, 53% patients were sarcopenic with median age 49,50 (43-70) years old and BMI 24.66 (20.55-28.07). Non-sarcopenic group had median age 42 (28-58) years old and BMI 23.60 (19.29-29.24). There was significant association between the lymphocyte-monocyte ratio and sarcopenia in breast cancer patients (p=0.028). The lymphocyte-monocyte ratio of sarcopenic and non-sarcopenic breast cancer patients were respectively 3.02 (0.67-14.80) and 4.75 (3.44-12.00). Conclusion(s): Lymphocyte-monocyte ratio was significantly associated with sarcopenia incidence in Indonesian breast cancer patients.