SHORTCUTS

Shortcuts October 2013

 

Support Care Cancer. 2013 Jul 20. [Epub ahead of print]

Handgrip strength predicts survival and is associated with markers of clinical and functional outcomes in advanced cancer patients

Kilgour RD, Vigano A, Trutschnigg B, Lucar E, Borod M, Morais JA

 

The relationship between handgrip strength (HGS) and survival, quality of life, as well as biological markers, in 203 consecutive patients with advanced non-small cell lung and gastrointestinal cancers was evaluated. The patients were categorized into three HGS percentiles and using multivariate regression analyses the independent associations with HGS were calculated. When compared to patients with ≥50th percentile HGS, patients in the ≤10th percentile HGS had lower BMI, haemoglobin, albumin, quality of life and performance status; more sarcopenia and fatigue, with an overall shorter survival. In view of these findings the authors suggest that patients presenting with very low HGS percentiles may require early referral to palliative care services.

DOI: 10.1007/s00520-013-1894-4

 

By Jason Boland

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