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Obesity and weight change in relation to breast cancer survival

  • Epidemiology
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Abstract

The authors evaluated the prognostic effects of obesity and weight change after breast cancer diagnosis. A total of 5042 breast cancer patients aged 20–75 were identified through the population-based Shanghai Cancer Registry approximately 6 months after cancer diagnosis and recruited into the study between 2002 and 2006. Participants were followed by in-person interviews supplemented by record linkage with the Shanghai Vital Statistics Registry database. Anthropometric measurements were taken, and information on sociodemographic, clinical, and lifestyle factors was collected through in-person interviews. During the median follow-up of 46 months, 442 deaths and 534 relapses/breast cancer-specific deaths were documented. Women with body mass index (BMI) ≥30 at diagnosis had higher mortality than women with 18.5 ≤ BMI < 25; the multivariate-adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) were 1.55 (95% confidence interval (95% CI): 1.10–2.17) for total mortality and 1.44 (95% CI: 1.02–2.03) for relapse/disease-specific mortality. Similar results were found for pre- and post-diagnostic obesity. Women who gained ≥5 kg or lost >1 kg had higher mortality than those who maintained their weight. No association was observed between waist-to-hip ratio and mortality. Our study suggests that obesity and weight change after diagnosis are inversely associated with breast cancer prognosis. Weight control is important among women with breast cancer.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program (DAMD 17-02-1-0607, PI: Dr. Xiao-Ou Shu). The U.S Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity, 820 Chandler Street, Fort Detrick, MD 21702-5014, is the awarding and administering acquisition office. The study was also supported by US Public Health Service grant number R01 CA118229 from the National Cancer Institute. The content of the information does not necessarily reflect the position or the policy of the Government, and no official endorsement should be inferred. The authors thank Dr. Fan Jin for her support in study implementation, and the participants and staff members of the SBCSS for making this study possible. The authors also thank Drs. Hui Cai and Wanqing Wen for their assistance in statistical analysis, and Ms. Bethanie Hull for her assistance in the manuscript preparation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt Epidemiology Center, Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, 2525 West End Avenue, Suite 600, Nashville, TN, 37203-1738, USA

    Xiaoli Chen, Wei Zheng, Zhi Chen & Xiao Ou Shu

  2. Shanghai Institute of Preventive Medicine, 1380 Zhong Shan Road (W), Shanghai, 200336, China

    Wei Lu, Kai Gu & Ying Zheng

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  1. Xiaoli Chen
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  2. Wei Lu
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  3. Wei Zheng
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  5. Zhi Chen
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  7. Xiao Ou Shu
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Correspondence to Xiao Ou Shu.

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Chen, X., Lu, W., Zheng, W. et al. Obesity and weight change in relation to breast cancer survival. Breast Cancer Res Treat 122, 823–833 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10549-009-0708-3

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