SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article
Front. Oncol.
Sec. Gastrointestinal Cancers: Gastric and Esophageal Cancers
Volume 15 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fonc.2025.1532200
Visceral Fat Area as a Prognostic Biomarker in Gastric Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Survival Outcomes
Provisionally accepted
- 1Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Central Hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University,Jinan, China., Jinan, China
- 2Department of Neurology, Shandong Provincial Third Hospital, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan, China., Jinan, China
- 3Xingtai City People's Hospital, Xingtai, Hubei Province, China
- 4Department of General Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Shandong First Medical University, Jinan, China, jinan, China
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Background: Visceral fat area (VFA) has been suggested as an alternative to body mass index (BMI) for evaluating the effects of obesity and fat distribution. Although VFA has shown potential as a predictor of perioperative complications and surgical duration, its prognostic value in gastric cancer patients remains contentious. This meta-analysis aimed to elucidate the prognostic significance of VFA in this patient population.: We searched the PubMed, Cochrane Library, CNKI, and EMBASE databases, including literature published up to July 31, 2024, to investigate the prognostic implications of VFA in postoperative and non-surgical gastric cancer patients. Outcome measures encompassed overall survival (OS), relapse-free survival (RFS), disease free survival (DFS).Results: A total of 6,054 eligible patients were selected from 12 studies.The results indicated a significant association between elevated VFA and improved OS and DFS/RFS (OS: HR 0.76, 95% CI 0.65-0.90, p = 0.001; DFS: HR 0.84, 95% CI 0.75-0.95, p = 0.004). Subgroup analyses were conducted to assess the robustness of these findings.This meta-analysis demonstrated that among patients with gastric cancer who underwent surgery or other treatments, elevated VFA was significantly associated with improved OS and DFS/RFS. Consequently, VFA may serve as a useful prognostic indicator for assessing the prognosis of gastric cancer patients following treatment.However, further prospective studies are necessary to validate these findings and confirm the reliability of VFA as a prognostic marker.
Keywords: gastric cancer, visceral fat area, overall survival, Disease-Free Survival, meta -analysis
Received: 22 Nov 2024; Accepted: 22 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Hou, Zhang, Yan, 郝, Li and Song. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Dan dan Song, Department of Neurology, Shandong Provincial Third Hospital, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan, China., Jinan, China
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