Relationship of Body Mass Index with Prognosis in Breast Cancer Patients Treated with Adjuvant Radiotherapy and Chemotherapy

Background: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship of body mass index with overall andprogression-free survival as well as other prognostic factors of breast cancer in patients with non-metastaticbreast cancer. Materials and
Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 456 patients diagnosed with breast cancerin the Radiation Oncology department of Kayseri Teaching Hospital between 2005 and 2013. We investigatedrelationship of body mass index with prognosis and other prognostic factors.
Results: The study included 456patients (447 women and 9 men). Mean age at presentation was 55.6 years. Of the cases, 96.9% underwentmodified radical mastectomy and 95.0% received chemotherapy, while 82.4% received radiotherapy and 60.0%were given hormone therapy. Body mass index was >25 mg/kg2 in 343 cases. Five- and 10-years overall survivalrates were 77% and 58% whereas progression-free survival rates were 65% and 49%, respectively. In univariateanalyses, factors including stage (p=0.046), tumor diameter (p=0.001), lymph node metastasis (p=0.006) andbody mass index (p=0.030) were found to be significantly associated with overall survival, while perinodalinvolvement was found to be significantly associated with progression-free survival (p=0.018). In multivariateanalysis, stage (p=0.032; OR: 3.8; 95% CI: 1.1-13), tumor diameter (p<0.000; OR: 0.0; 95% CI: 0.0-0.3), lymphnode metastasis (p=0.005; OR: 0.0; 95% CI: 0.0-0.5) and BMI (p=0.027; OR: 0.02; 95% CI: 0.0-0.8) remainedas significantly associated with OS.
Conclusions: In our study, it was seen that overall survival time was shorterin underweight and obese patients when compared to normal weight patients.