Gynecologic malignancies, including ovarian, fallopian tube, and endometrial cancers, are among the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in women. Standard first-line treatment with carboplatin and paclitaxel improves survival but can cause adverse effects such as dysgeusia (taste alteration), weight loss, sarcopenia, and malnutrition. Chemotherapy-induced dysgeusia may reduce oral intake, alter dietary preferences, and worsen protein-energy malnutrition, accelerating muscle loss and functional decline. Sarcopenia and myosteatosis, assessed using CT-based SMI measurements at the L3 vertebra, have been shown to affect chemotherapy tolerance and prognosis.
This single-center observational study at Ankara Etlik City Hospital enrolled 102 female patients with non-metastatic ovarian, fallopian tube, or endometrial cancer undergoing six cycles of carboplatin-paclitaxel. Systematic evaluations included CITAS, PG-SGA, CT-based SMI, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status (range 0-5; higher scores indicate worse functional status), laboratory parameters, and anthropometric measures.
Primary objectives:
Incidence and severity of chemotherapy-induced taste alterations
Changes in nutritional status (PG-SGA)
Changes in skeletal muscle index (SMI)
Secondary objectives:
Correlation between CITAS and PG-SGA scores with dietary intake and chemotherapy adherence
Correlation between sarcopenia/malnutrition and chemotherapy-related toxicities (hematologic toxicities, fatigue)
Changes in ECOG performance status and functional capacity
Exploratory: correlations with inflammatory markers (C-reactive protein \[CRP\], albumin)
