ecancermedicalscience

Research

Identifying nutritional, functional, and quality of life correlates with male hypogonadism in advanced cancer patients

4 Aug 2015
Domenico Fuoco, Jonathan di Tomasso, Caroline Boulos, Robert D Kilgour, Jose A Morais, Manuel Borod, Antonio Vigano

With the availability of a potential treatment to reverse male hypogonadism (MH), the primary aim of this case series study was to determine independent relationships between this condition and the nutritional, functional, and quality of life characteristics of advanced cancer patients (ACP). Free testosterone levels were measured in 100 male patients with advanced lung and gastrointestinal (GI) cancer. Routine blood markers of nutrition and inflammation, self-reporting questionnaires for symptom, nutrition, and functional status along with handgrip dynamometry were assessed for all patients at bedside. Almost half of this cohort underwent further assessments (body composition, lower body strength, in depth quality of life and fatigue questionnaires) at the McGill Nutrition and Performance Laboratory (mnupal.mcgill.ca). Multiple regression analyses were performed to identify independent correlations between free testosterone and the above measures. Seventy-six percent of patients were diagnosed with MH. Using multiple linear regression, low free testosterone (31.2 pmol/L) was independently associated with lower albumin (B = –3.8 g/L; 95% confidence interval CI –6.8:–0.8), muscle strength (–11.7 lbs; –20.4: –3.0) and mass in upper limbs (–0.8 kg; –1.4: –0.1), overall performance status (Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group Performance Scale, ECOG PS 0.6; 0.1:1.1), cancer-related fatigue (Brief Fatigue Inventory, BFI 16.7; 2.0: 31.3), and overall quality of life (MQoL total score –1.42; –2.5: –0.3). Thus MH seems to be highly prevalent in ACP, and it is independently associated with important nutritional, functional, and quality of life characteristics in this patient population.

Related Articles

Camilla Engelsmann, Gitte Wooler, Vladimira Horvat, Shailesh Balasaheb Kolekar
Simran Malik, Sudipta Mukherjee, Pralay Shankar Ghosh, Santanu Bagchi, Gaurav Goel, Soumyadip Chatterji, Saugata Sen, Debashree Guha Adhya, Sangeeta Das Bhattacharya, Sanjay Bhattacharya
Lingaraj Nayak, Gaurav Salunke, Trupti Gilada, Sukhada Savarkar, Bindiya Salunke, Sanjay Biswas, Vanita Noronha, Atul Kulkarni, Manju Sengar, Akshay Baheti, Pradnya Samant, Anant Gokarn, Anuradha Mehta, Chetan Dhamne, Keerthna Batyala
Sasongko Hadi Priyono, Winardi Budiwinata, Budianto Tedjowitono, Effendy, Muhamad Daffa Ibnurasy Pratama
Rohini Sebastian, Josh Thomas Georgy, Arun George, Prisca Santhanam, Raiza Philip, Anjana Joel, Ajoy Oommen John, Deepa Susan Joy Philip, Divya Bala Thumaty, Thomas Alex Kodiatte, Ashish Singh, Rekha Pai
Ghazal Tansir, Akhil Santhosh, Akash Kumar, Hemavathi Baskarane, Mohit Kumar Divakar, Vishakha Hooda, Arundhati J R Dev, Chandra Prakash Prasad, Ishaan Gupta, Saran Kumar, Pranay Tanwar, Atul Sharma, Sameer Bakhshi, Atul Batra