Effects of 6 months of abiraterone acetate (AA) on muscle and adipose mass in men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC).
e15137 Background: AA, an inhibitor of androgen biosynthesis, has been shown to prolong overall survival in patients with mCRPC who have previously been treated with chemotherapy. ADT has been shown to result in muscle wasting in prostate cancer patients. The effects of AA on progression of muscle and fat wasting have not been characterized. We evaluated whether 6 months of AA therapy altered total skeletal muscle mass or adipose mass. Methods: 10 sequential patients who responded to AA therapy for at least 6 months and had available computed tomography (CT) scans were retrospectively selected from the phase I-II COU-AA-002 study. CT image analysis was used to quantify change from baseline in total skeletal muscle and adipose tissue after 6 months of AA treatment. Skeletal muscle and adipose tissue cross-sectional area were calculated at the L3 level using Slice-O-Matic software V4.3. Previously published regression models were used to estimate fat-free mass, fat mass and skeletal muscle mass. Paired t-tests were performed to determine the change in measurements. Results: At baseline, 7 of 10 patients were overweight or obese (body mass index [BMI] > 25 kg/m2), and none were underweight. Advanced muscle wasting (sarcopenia, previously defined as the ratio of skeletal muscle cross-sectional area at L3 level to height < 52.4 cm2/m2) was present at baseline and 6 months in 9 of 10 pts. Over 6 months of AA treatment, patients lost an average of 1.9 kg ± 3.6 kg (p = 0.13). Mean changes (kg) (±standard deviation) in total skeletal muscle mass (-0.80 ± 1.71, p = 0.18) and total non-adipose mass (-1.44 ± 3.09, p = 0.17) were not significant. A significant decrease in total adipose mass (-0.61 ± 0.84, p = 0.048) was observed. Conclusions: Sarcopenia is prevalent in patients with mCRPC. AA was not related to significantly worsening sarcopenia or overall weight loss during the first 6 months of treatment; however, this may reflect a relatively short duration of therapy and/or small sample size. A significant loss of adipose tissue was observed, which is unexpected given the known effects of ADT, which increases adipose mass. Evaluation of additional AA treated patients is ongoing.