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Obesity linked to poor cancer survival

Obese people are known not only to have a higher risk of colon cancer, but also worse long-term survival chances than their thinner counterparts if they do develop the disease.

Obesity linked to poor cancer survival

Obese people are known not only to have a higher risk of colon cancer, but also worse long-term survival chances than their thinner counterparts if they do develop the disease.

Obesity is associated with an increased risk of colon cancer. However, the influence of body mass index (BMI) on the prognosis of colon cancer survivors and its relationship to gender remains unknown. To investigate this, researchers followed 4,381 American adults who took part in seven clinical trials that tested a chemotherapy regimen for colon cancer. All patients had stage II or III cancer, meaning the cancer had spread deep into the colon wall or to nearby lymph nodes. After eight years, 42 percent of the patients had died, and 36 percent had seen their cancer recur.

It was found that among the 787 men who were normal-weight at the start of the study, 53 percent were alive eight years later, compared with 42 percent of men who were very obese - having a BMI of 35 or higher. When the researchers considered several other factors, including the patients' age and stage of cancer, very obese men were 35 percent more likely than normal-weight men to die during the follow-up period.

Among women, 61 percent of normal-weight patients were still alive after eight years, versus 55 percent of women who were moderately obese - having a BMI between 30 and 35. Fifty-nine percent of very obese women were still alive after eight years. When other factors were considered, very obese women did not have a significantly higher risk of death than normal-weight women. Mild obesity was linked to a 24 percent higher risk of death.

The relationship between obesity and survival appeared stronger among men - possibly, the researchers speculate, because men are more likely than women to have their excess body fat concentrated in the belly. Abdominal obesity is particularly linked to hormonal effects that, in theory, could contribute to colon cancer development or the cancer's aggressiveness.

However, how obesity affects colon cancer survival remains unclear. The current study points to a relationship between obesity and long-term survival, but does not prove that excess body fat directly affects a patient's prognosis. Therefore people treated for colon cancer should try to maintain a BMI lower than 30, the cutoff for obesity.
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