Obesity Not Linked to Colon Cancer Survival

THURSDAY, Sept. 4 (HealthDay News) -- Increased body mass index (BMI) wasn't associated with a higher risk of cancer recurrence or death in individuals with colon cancer, according to research published in the Sept. 1 issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

Jeffrey A. Meyerhardt, M.D., of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, and colleagues analyzed data from 1,053 patients with stage III colon cancer participating in a trial of adjuvant chemotherapy. Patients reported their height and weight during their treatment at a point several months after surgery. The primary end point was disease-free survival, and patients were followed for a median 5.3 years.

The researchers found no significant association between increasing BMI and disease-free survival or overall survival. Obese patients -- even those with a BMI of at least 35 -- didn't have significantly different disease-free survival than those with a normal weight, after adjustment for a variety of relevant factors. Weight gain or loss between adjuvant therapy and six months after its completion wasn't significantly associated with cancer recurrence or mortality, the investigators report.

"Because increased circulating levels of insulin and free insulin-like growth factor 1 have been associated with obesity and physical inactivity, and because both insulin and insulin-like growth factor 1 promote cell proliferation and inhibit apoptosis in colon cancer cells, one could hypothesize that such lifestyle factors may influence the risk of colon cancer recurrence by promoting growth of micrometastases through insulin-related growth factors," the authors write.

The study received support from Pfizer Oncology.

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