Obese women with early-stage HER2-positive breast cancer may have poorer outcomes
May 20, 2017
In a review of data from 3,017 patients, researchers found that, considering all three treatment arms together, obese patients -- those with a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or more -- had worse outcomes than patients with a BMI less than 30, although these trends were not statistically significant.
Researchers then calculated disease-free survival for each study arm for normal weight, overweight and obese patients, and found that patients fared best in Arm C. In this arm, the difference between BMI and outcome was not statistically significant, Dr. Crozier says. Herceptin was powerful enough to provide an equal benefit in patients with vastly varying body weights, she says.
"We are continually searching for approaches that will help our patients have the best outcome possible after their diagnosis of breast cancer, and this study suggests that excess body weight may make a difference," says senior investigator Edith Perez, M.D., director of Mayo Clinic's breast program in Florida .
Source: Mayo Clinic