Prognostic relevance of CT-defined body composition in esophageal cancer patients undergoing curative treatment

In total, 51 patients (35.2 %) of the patient cohort died within the observation period. According to the sarcopenia threshold of the SMI, 99 patients (68.2 %) were classified as sarcopenic and according to the VAT threshold, 102 patients (70.3 %) were classified as visceral obese. Sarcopenia and visceral obesity were associated with mortality with a hazard ratio (HR) of 2.05 (95%confidence interval (CI) 1.17, 3.57, p = 0.01) and 2.47 (95%CI 1.39, 4.37, p = 0.002) in univariable analysis, respectively. Only the combination of both, sarcopenic obesity was significantly associated in multivariable analysis (HR 2.47, 95 %CI 1.39; 4.37, p = 0.002) CONCLUSIONS: The combination of CT-defined sarcopenia and visceral obesity showed a strong prognostic relevance in EC undergoing curative resection. The effect of sarcopenia and visceral obesity considered separately was of lesser prognostic significance. CT-defined body composition may help to better stratify patients with EC at risk of worse outcome in clinical practice.