DOI: 10.1093/nop/npag106 ISSN: 2054-2577
Temporal muscle thickness is not associated with hematotoxicity risk after alkylating chemotherapy in newly diagnosed glioblastoma
Anna Marlene Nietz, Barbara Daria Wichtmann, Daniel Paech, Inga Krause, Niklas Schäfer, Julia Scheuble, Matthias Schneider, Anna-Laura Potthoff, Clemens Seidel, Alexander Radbruch, Ulrich Herrlinger, Johannes Weller, Thomas ZeyenLay Summary
Treatment for glioblastoma usually includes chemotherapy, which can cause serious side effects affecting blood cell counts (hematotoxicity). Identifying patients at increased risk for these complications could help guide treatment decisions. We investigated whether temporal muscle thickness, a simple MRI-based marker often used to estimate muscle mass and frailty, could predict hematotoxicity in patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma. In 222 patients, temporal muscle thickness was not associated with severe hematotoxicity or survival. Instead, female sex and intensified treatment with lomustine plus temozolomide were associated with an increased risk of hematotoxicity.