Obesity Does Not Influence Management of Advanced Breast Cancer in the Elderly. Clin Breast Cancer 2019 Jun;19(3):197-199
Date
03/05/2019Pubmed ID
30827764DOI
10.1016/j.clbc.2018.12.020Scopus ID
2-s2.0-85062149945 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 1 CitationAbstract
BACKGROUND: Obesity is becoming increasingly common in the elderly population, and it adds to the complexity of treatment decisions in this population. We aimed to investigate whether body mass index (BMI) affects care in this subset of patients.
PATIENTS AND METHODS: We performed a retrospective chart review on 118 patients over the age of 70 years diagnosed with breast cancer and pathologically proven axillary disease over an 8-year period at an urban academic hospital and compared BMI to treatment received, clinical stage, and hormone receptor status.
RESULTS: Performance of radiation therapy, axillary surgery, and chemotherapy was compared in the elderly population over lower and higher BMI, and no significant difference was detected. Although there was a trend for increasing clinical stage to be associated with a lower BMI, this was not statistically significant (P = .06).
CONCLUSION: Obesity does not appear to influence treatment decisions in patients over the age of 70 years. Breast cancer providers should turn to other patient and clinical factors when deciding treatment plans in this patient population. Further investigation is needed to examine how obesity influences tumor biology, diagnosis, and treatment decisions.
Author List
Tangalakis LL, Cortina CS, Son JD, Poirier J, Madrigrano AAuthor
Chandler S. Cortina MD Assistant Professor in the Surgery department at Medical College of WisconsinMESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
AgedBody Mass Index
Breast Neoplasms
Combined Modality Therapy
Disease Management
Female
Follow-Up Studies
Humans
Obesity
Prognosis
Retrospective Studies