Imaging-based prognostic factors in patients undergoing thermal ablation for colorectal liver metastases. A retrospective study on the role of sarcopenia parameters and tumor burden score.
Moos M, Jacobi L, et al. • Radiology and oncology • 2026
In patients treated with thermal ablation for colorectal liver metastases, psoas muscle volume index (PMVI) showed significant association with 1-year survival, which was not observed for conventional tumor burden score or other sarcopenia-related imaging parameters.
Key Findings
Results
PMVI was significantly associated with 1-year survival in patients undergoing thermal ablation for colorectal liver metastases.
Higher PMVI values were observed in survivors (mean 113.3 cm³/m³) compared to non-survivors (mean 101.3 cm³/m³)
The difference was statistically significant (p = 0.048)
PMVI was automatically extracted using the open-source deep learning tool TotalSegmentator
Comparisons between 1-year survivors and non-survivors were performed using unpaired t-tests
Results
L1-bone-density was not significantly associated with 1-year survival.
No significant difference in L1-bone-density was observed between 1-year survivors and non-survivors (p = 0.925)
L1-bone-density was one of the CT-derived body composition metrics evaluated as a sarcopenia-related imaging marker
Results
Psoas muscle index (PMI) was not significantly associated with 1-year survival.
No significant difference in PMI was observed between 1-year survivors and non-survivors (p = 0.137)
PMI is a conventional sarcopenia-related imaging parameter derived from CT imaging
Results
Tumor burden score (TBS) was not significantly associated with 1-year survival in this cohort.
TBS showed no significant association with 1-year survival (p = 0.182)
This finding contrasts with the significant association observed for PMVI
TBS is a conventional tumor burden metric used in colorectal liver metastases management
Methods
The study cohort consisted of 88 patients who underwent thermal ablation for colorectal liver metastases, the majority of whom had previously undergone hepatic resection.
A total of 88 patients were included in the retrospective analysis
Most patients had previously undergone hepatic resection (n = 72, 82%)
Patients were treated at a tertiary care center between 2009 and 2023
CT-derived body composition metrics included PMVI, PMI, and L1-bone-density
Moos M, Jacobi L, Stoehr F, Steiner P, Bäuerle T, Kloeckner R, et al.. (2026). Imaging-based prognostic factors in patients undergoing thermal ablation for colorectal liver metastases. A retrospective study on the role of sarcopenia parameters and tumor burden score.. Radiology and oncology. https://doi.org/10.2478/raon-2026-0011