Gender-based differences of abdominal adipose tissue distribution in non-small cell lung cancer patients

Background: Lung cancer is a malignant tumor with high lethality, responsible for about 28% of all cancer deaths. In this study, using a quantitative CT imaging-based approach, we aimed to investigate the differences of abdominal adipose tissue distribution in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) according to gender. Methods: A group of 66 patients with NSCLC at first diagnosis [male: 45, mean age: 67.3 years (range, 51.0–88.0 years); female: 21, mean age: 62.4 years (range, 44.0–84.0 years)] was included. As a control group, 70 patients without history of malignancies who have undergone a chest-abdomen CT for pre-operative cardiovascular surgery planning [male: 42, mean age: 62.7 years (range, 40.0–83.0 years); female: 28, mean age: 66.4 years (range, 39.0–83.0 years)] was included. We calculated total adipose area (TAA), visceral adipose area (VAA) and subcutaneous adipose area (SAA) using OsiriX to analyze cross-sectional CT images. The differences were analyzed using the Student’s t-test (P<0.05). The Pearson’s correlation coefficient (r) and the significance of the simple regressions (ρ) were calculated. Results: In the female group, the visceral/subcutaneous (V/S) ratio was higher in the control group than in patients. Conversely, in the male group we found a higher V/S ratio in patients then controls. Considering male and female together, the age parameter showed a significant positive correlation with the amount of visceral (r=0.390; P=0.001) and total (r=0.270; P=0.030) fat in the patients. Dividing the groups between male and female, the age parameter showed a significant positive correlation with the amount of visceral fat in the female patients (r=0.440; P=0.049), visceral fat in the male patients (r=0.320; P=0.030), subcutaneous fat in the female patients (r=0.480; P=0.030) and total fat in the female patients (r=0.490; P=0.020). Conclusions: The results of this study are in line with the concept of differential gender-based relationships among abdominal fat distribution, age and NSCLC.