{rfName}
Pr

Indexed in

License and use

Citations

19

Altmetrics

Grant support

With the support of the "Accio instrumental d'intensificacio de professionals de la salut" (grant number SLT008/18/00047) of the Department of Health of the Government of Catalonia. We thank CERCA Programme/Generalitat de Catalunya for institutional support.

Analysis of institutional authors

Taberna, MAuthorVilarino, NAuthorOliva, MAuthorMesia, RAuthor

Share

July 19, 2021
Publications
>
Article
No

Predictive Value of Skeletal Muscle Mass in Recurrent/Metastatic Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma Patients Treated With Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors

Publicated to:Frontiers In Oncology. 11 (699668): 699668- - 2021-06-25 11(699668), DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2021.699668

Authors: Arribas, L; Plana, M; Taberna, M; Sospedra, M; Vilariño, N; Oliva, M; Pallarés, N; Tampán, ARG; Del Rio, LM; Mesia, R; Baracos, V

Affiliations

Bellvitge Biomed Res Inst IDIBELL, Barcelona, Spain - Author
Bellvitge Univ Hosp, Catalan Inst Oncol ICO, Head & Neck Canc Unit, Barcelona, Spain - Author
Bellvitge Univ Hosp, Unitat Bioestadist UBiDi, Barcelona, Spain - Author
Catalan Inst Oncol ICO Badalona, Med Oncol Dept, B ARGO Grp, Barcelona, Spain - Author
Catalan Inst Oncol ICO, Clin Nutr Unit, Barcelona, Spain - Author
Catalan Inst Oncol ICO, Med Oncol Dept, ONCOBELL, Barcelona, Spain - Author
CETIR Grp Med, Grp Ascires, Barcelona, Spain - Author
Hosp Univ Germans Trias & Pujol HUGTiP, Unitat Nutr Clin & Dietet, Barcelona, Spain - Author
Univ Alberta, Cross Canc Inst, Dept Oncol, Div Palliat Care Med, Edmonton, AB, Canada - Author
Univ Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain - Author
See more

Abstract

Background Reduced muscle mass has been associated with increased treatment complications in several tumor types. We evaluated the impact of skeletal muscle index (SMI) on prognosis and immune-related adverse events (IrAEs) in a cohort of recurrent/metastatic (R/M) head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) treated with immune checkpoints inhibitors (ICI). Methods A single-institutional, retrospective study was performed including 61 consecutive patients of R/M HNSCC diagnosed between July 2015 and December 2018. SMI was quantified using a CT scan at L3 to evaluate body composition. Median baseline SMI was used to dichotomize patients in low and high SMI. Kaplan-Meier estimations were used to detect overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS). Toxicity was recorded using Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Event v4.3. Results Patients were 52 men (85.2%) with mean of age 57.7 years (SD 9.62), mainly oral cavity (n = 21; 34.4%). Low SMI was an independent factor for OS in the univariate (HR, 2.06; 95% CI, 1.14-3.73, p = 0.017) and multivariate Cox analyses (HR, 2.99; 95% CI, 1.29-6.94; p = 0.011). PFS was also reduced in patients with low SMI (PFS HR, 1.84; 95% CI, 1.08-3.12; p = 0.025). IrAEs occurred in 29 (47.5%) patients. There was no association between low SMI and IrAEs at any grade (OR, 0.56; 95% CI, 0.20-1.54; p = 0.261). However, grades 3 to 4 IrAEs were developed in seven patients of whom three had low SMI. Conclusions Low SMI before ICI treatment in R/M HNSCC patients had a negative impact on OS and PFS. Further prospective research is needed to confirm the role of body composition as a predictive biomarker in ICI treatment.

Keywords

body compositionhead and neck (h&n) cancerimmune checkpoint inhibitorsimmune-related adverse events (irae)muscle massBody compositionBody-compositionCancerCetuximabChemotherapyHead and neck (h&n) cancerImmune checkpoint inhibitorsImmune-related adverse events (irae)ImpactMuscle massObesityRecurrentSarcopeniaSolid tumorsSurvival

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal Frontiers In Oncology due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency Scopus (SJR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2021, it was in position , thus managing to position itself as a Q1 (Primer Cuartil), in the category Oncology.

From a relative perspective, and based on the normalized impact indicator calculated from the Field Citation Ratio (FCR) of the Dimensions source, it yields a value of: 3.23, which indicates that, compared to works in the same discipline and in the same year of publication, it ranks as a work cited above average. (source consulted: Dimensions Aug 2025)

Specifically, and according to different indexing agencies, this work has accumulated citations as of 2025-08-14, the following number of citations:

  • WoS: 1
  • Scopus: 10
  • Europe PMC: 5

Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2025-08-14:

  • The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 17.
  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 17 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

  • The Total Score from Altmetric: 0.25.
  • The number of mentions on the social network X (formerly Twitter): 1 (Altmetric).

It is essential to present evidence supporting full alignment with institutional principles and guidelines on Open Science and the Conservation and Dissemination of Intellectual Heritage. A clear example of this is:

  • The work has been submitted to a journal whose editorial policy allows open Open Access publication.

Leadership analysis of institutional authors

This work has been carried out with international collaboration, specifically with researchers from: Canada.

There is a significant leadership presence as some of the institution’s authors appear as the first or last signer, detailed as follows: First Author (Arribas, L) .

the author responsible for correspondence tasks has been Arribas, L.