Abstract
OBJECTIVES: To summarize current evidence about the influence of body composition on the prognosis of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) treatment. METHODS: Public databases were systematically searched to identify relevant studies published from the inception of the database up to May 2023. Studies that evaluated the association between body composition and clinical outcomes in HCC patients who underwent TACE were included. A pre-designed table was applied to summarize relevant information. Meta-analysis was performed to estimate the association of body composition with overall survival. RESULTS: Fourteen studies were included in this review, including 3631 patients (sample size range: 56-908, median 186). All body composition measurements (including skeletal muscle area, visceral and subcutaneous adipose area, and bone mineral density) were based on computer tomography. The commonly used parameter was skeletal muscle index at 3rd lumbar vertebra level (8/14). Three studies evaluated the correlations of body composition changes with the prognosis after TACE. Most studies (12/14) identified body composition parameters as an independent indicator for overall survival, progression-free survival, and treatment response rate. The hazard ratio of different body composition parameters ranged from 1.01 to 2.88, and hazard ratio of body composition changes ranged from 1.88 to 5.93. The pooled hazard ratio of sarcopenia for overall survival was 1.38 (95 %CI: 1.20-1.58). CONCLUSIONS: Body composition seems to be an important prognostic factor for a poorer clinical outcome after TACE treatment in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma. Future prospective studies with a larger sample size are required to confirm these findings. REGISTRATION STUDY: This study has been prospectively registered at the PROSPERO platform (https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/) with the registration No. CRD42022345602.