Jéssica Härter

To evaluate the association of standardized phase angle (SPA) with nutritional status, functional parameters, and postoperative outcomes in surgical cancer patients. This prospective study includes 59 cancer patients from Pelotas (Brazil) admitted for elective cancer surgery. We obtained the phase angle through Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis (BIA) and standardized it according to the population's reference values. We estimated the muscle mass using BIA for later calculation of the Skeletal Muscle Index (SMI) and performed handgrip strength (HGS) and gait speed (GS) tests. We used the Patient-Generated Subjective Global Assessment (PG-SGA) to assess the nutritional status. Postoperative complications and duration of hospital stay were evaluated as the outcomes. The prevalence of malnutrition in the sample was 28.8%, according to ASG-PPP. SPA was statistically lower in patients with malnutrition, with lower HGS and reduced GS. For postoperative outcomes, patients with severe complications and those with prolonged hospitalization also had lower SPA values. The greater the number of functional alterations in patients, the lower the SPA value, mainly when associated with reduced muscle mass assessed by BIA, suggesting that muscle mass reduction plays an important role in the association between functional alterations and phase angle in patients with cancer. According to the parameters used in this study, low SPA value was associated with impaired nutritional and functional status and negative outcomes in the analyzed sample.

Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is a complex procedure used to treat several onco-hematological neoplasms, benign hematological diseases, and some types of solid tumors. In recent years, the role of the gut microbiota in HSCT has been studied, revealing that the microbiota has a direct interaction with the immune system and the microbial balance within the body (eubiosis), providing beneficial health effects, and changes in such state result in dysbiosis, which has been associated with several pathological states. The process in which the patient undergoes HSCT can cause microbiota imbalance with reduced diversity, which would be related to negative post-HSCT outcomes, including increased mortality and development of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). The modulation of the gut microbiota through methods such as the use of probiotics has been explored as an alternative for the recovery and/or maintenance of the gut microbiota.

We evaluated phase angle, sarcopenia, and handgrip strength as prognostic factors of postoperative morbimortality in patients with cancer.