Very obese patients are more likely to have their colon cancer return and to die of their disease according to a study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
Researchers from the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project reviewed recurrences, new primary cancers, and deaths in stage II and III colon cancer patients who were treated with chemotherapy in NSABP clinical trials between 1989 and 1994. The study team followed patients for a median of 11 years after adjuvant treatment.
When they compared patients who were very obese (BMI at least 35 kg/m2) to those with normal body mass index, they found the very obese had a
- 40% greater chance of having their colon cancer return or having a second primary cancer
- 30% greater chance of dying, most often from colon cancer
Underweight patients, who had a BMI less than normal, were more than twice as likely to die during the follow-up period, but most of these deaths were from causes other than colon cancer.
James J. Dignam, PhD, and his colleagues concluded:
Among colon cancer patients, a BMI greater than 35.0 kg/m2 at diagnosis was associated with an increased risk for recurrence of and death from colon cancer. Further studies are needed to determine pathways between obesity and recurrence risk and whether weight reduction or related interventions would improve prognosis.
Dignam et. al. Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Vol. 98, No. 22, 1647-1654, November 15, 2006
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