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Obesity increased risk for pancreatic cancer mortality
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Patients who were obese prior to pancreatic cancer diagnosis were more likely to present with advanced disease and experience shorter survival than those at normal weight, according to study results.
The associations were strongest among those who were overweight about 2 decades before diagnosis, researchers said.
Brian M. Wolpin
“This study adds to mounting evidence for the role of weight control in improving outcomes for patients with cancer. It also reinforces the importance of maintaining a healthy weight throughout your life, which may lead to better outcomes after diagnosis and help prevent pancreatic cancer from developing,” Brian M. Wolpin, MD, MPH, an assistant professor of medicine at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School, said in a press release. “While our findings will not affect the way we treat patients today, they provide new leads for investigating the molecular pathways that may be responsible for the survival difference between obese and healthy-weight patients. Hopefully, in the future, that research will bring new approaches for treatment of pancreatic cancer.”
Wolpin and colleagues conducted the investigation to examine whether obesity affects the aggressiveness of pancreatic cancer or survival. They pooled prediagnostic BMI data assessed in 1986 from two large prospective cohorts, including 902 patients who were diagnosed with pancreatic cancer between 1988 and 2010.
Results of multivariable analysis showed patients with BMI >35 had a greater mortality risk than those with BMI <25 (HR=1.53; 95% CI, 1.11-2.09). When the researchers compared the groups based on BMI 18 to 20 years prior to cancer diagnosis, the HR for death among obese patients compared with those at healthy weight was 2.31 (95% CI, 1.48-3.61). The association was most significant among never-smokers (HR=1.61; 95% CI, 1.01-2.57).
The rate of patients who presented with metastatic disease was higher among obese patients (72.5% vs. 59.4%; P=.02).
“These data emphasize the link between chronic alterations in systemic metabolism and pancreatic cancer survival and suggest obesity-related metabolic pathways for possible therapeutic intervention in patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma,” Wolpin and colleagues wrote.
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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