Weight loss linked to lower inflammatory markers in women with breast cancer
SAN ANTONIO — Weight loss via lifestyle intervention showed correlation to improved inflammatory markers in a group of women with HER2-negative breast cancer, according to a presenter here.
Jennifer A. Ligibel, MD, professor of medicine at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, presented preliminary results of the Breast Cancer Weight Loss (BWEL) trial during a rapid-fire session at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.
BWEL is a phase 3 randomized study evaluating the impact of a diet- and exercise-based weight-loss intervention on invasive DFS in 3,180 women with stage 2 and 3 HER2-negative breast cancer with a BMI of at least 27 kg/m2.
“What we showed in the study was that the weight-loss intervention, which had led to about a 5.7% weight loss at 1 year compared to control, significantly improved metabolic hormones and inflammatory biomarkers,” Ligibel said. “There was about a 20% reduction in insulin levels; 25% improvement in insulin resistance; improvements in other metabolic markers and, to a lesser degree, inflammatory markers.”
Ligibel presented the impact of the weight-loss intervention on insulin, insulin resistance, leptin and C-reactive protein in nearly 2,900 women in the study. At baseline, the women had an average BMI of 34 kg/m2 and most had hormone receptor-positive cancer treated with chemotherapy radiation and/or endocrine therapy.
“These were pretty heavily treated patients,” Ligibel said. “The next step of the study is to continue to follow patients, and determine whether these favorable changes in biomarkers, translate into better breast cancer outcomes,” she said.
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Ligibel JA. Abstract RF1-01. Presented at: San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; Dec. 10-13, 2024; San Antonio.
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