Exploring the Role of Sarcopenia in Obesity and Breast Cancer Survival

The aim of this study is to gain a better understanding of the role of sarcopenia and body composition in the relationship between obesity and risk of breast cancer progression. We propose to use existing CT scans performed as a part of regular clinical care in this novel application to examine: 1) levels of fat and muscle mass among newly diagnosed breast cancer patients to determine prevalence of sarcopenia among underweight, normal weight, overweight, mildly obese and morbidly obese breast cancer survivors; 2) relationships between categories of fat mass and lean muscle mass at diagnosis (including sarcopenic obesity) and breast tumor characteristics predictive of risk of recurrence and death including disease stage, subtype (ER, PR, and Her2 Neu status), and proliferation markers, 3) relationships between body composition and chemotoxicity; and 4) associations between categories of fat mass and muscle mass and breast cancer-specific and overall mortality.

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