Study shows link between obesity and treatment outcomes in breast cancer patients

A study published in the international journal, Cancer Biology and Therapy, describes research into the correlation between generalized obesity and treatment outcomes in breast cancer patients younger than 45 years old. The study, titled "Body mass index and treatment outcomes following neoadjuvant therapy in women aged 45 years or younger: evidence from a historic cohort," analyzed body mass index (BMI) in patients treated with chemotherapy (CT) followed by surgery.

"To the best of our knowledge, no previous study has addressed the role of BMI in breast cancer with a focus on young age at diagnosis in women treated with chemotherapy followed by surgery," says Dr Maddalena Barba, researcher at the Regina Elena National Cancer Institute of Rome and study coordinator. "The modifiable nature of BMI makes its evaluation as a factor associated with treatment outcomes particularly appealing to a research agenda."

The authors belong to a multidisciplinary Italian-American team led by Prof. Antonio Giordano, Director of the Sbarro Institute for Cancer Research and Molecular Medicine, Temple University of Philadelphia, USA.

"Breast cancer is a complex disease. Such complexity is even increased in young women, particularly when a diagnosis is posed earlier than 45 years of age. Indeed, in this group of patients breast cancer tends to assume a particularly aggressive behavior" says Dr. Massimilano D'Aiuto, breast surgeon at the G. Pascale Foundation National Cancer Institute of Naples, Southern Italy.

"A number of mechanisms may actually concur to provide a biological rationale for the role of BMI on treatment outcomes in young women," says Prof. Antonio Giordano, senior scientist and scientific supervisor for the entire project. "Determinants of interest include hormones, adipocytokines, and mediators of inflammatory processes such as cytokines, which are all related to key aspects of cell survival or apoptosis, migration, and proliferation."

"Understanding the underlying mechanisms and pathways may greatly effect outcomes for this subgroup of patients, who are particularly vulnerable to the familial, health and economic burden of cancer," Giordano said.