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Body mass index and prognosis in patients with head and neck cancer
Author(s) -
Gama Ricardo Ribeiro,
Song Yuyao,
Zhang Qihuang,
Brown M. Catherine,
Wang Jennifer,
Habbous Steven,
Tong Li,
Huang Shao Hui,
O'Sullivan Brian,
Waldron John,
Xu Wei,
Goldstein David,
Liu Geoffrey
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
head and neck
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.012
H-Index - 127
eISSN - 1097-0347
pISSN - 1043-3074
DOI - 10.1002/hed.24760
Subject(s) - medicine , underweight , body mass index , overweight , hazard ratio , head and neck cancer , cancer , confidence interval , oncology
Background Body mass index (BMI) has been associated variably with head and neck cancer outcomes. We evaluated the association between BMI at either diagnosis or at early adulthood head and neck cancer outcomes. Methods Patients with invasive head and neck squamous cell cancer at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre in Toronto, Canada, were surveyed on tobacco and alcohol exposure, performance status, comorbidities, and BMI at diagnosis. A subset also had data collected for BMI at early adulthood. Results With a median follow‐up of 2.5 years, in 1279 analyzed patients, being overweight (hazard ratio [HR], 0.55; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.4–0.8; p = .001) at diagnosis was associated with improved survival when compared with individuals with normal weight. In contrast, underweight patients at diagnosis were associated with a worse outcome (HR, 1.89; 95% CI, 1.2–3.1; p < .01). Conclusion Being underweight at diagnosis was an independent, adverse prognostic factor, whereas being overweight conferred better prognosis. BMI in early adulthood was not associated strongly with head and neck cancer outcomes. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck 39: 1226–1233, 2017