How being obese could help you fight cancer: Study

Thursday 02 Jul 2015 - 15:58 Makkah mean time-15-9-1436

Scientists said they were surprised to discover overweight and obese cancer patients are more likely to survive longer after treatment for advanced stages of the disease than their thinner counterparts (Daily Mail)

North Carolina, (IINA) - Overweight cancer patients are more likely to survive after treatment for advanced stages of the disease, new research has revealed, according to The Daily Mail.
Their study found patients with a low to healthy body mass index (BMI) lived on average two-and-a-half months less than overweight and obese patients.
The results shocked researchers, who had predicted obese patients would not react as well to treatments for stage 4 colorectal cancer because of their increased risk of developing the disease and it returning.
Lead author of the new study, Dr Yousuf Zafar, of Duke University in North Carolina, said: Contrary to our hypothesis, patients who had the lowest BMI were at risk for having the shortest survival.
'In this case, patients with the lowest body weight - people who had metastatic colon cancer that which had spread and a BMI of less than 25 were at the highest risk.
According to guidelines, a healthy adult's BMI ranges from 18.5 to 24, while a BMI below 18.5 is deemed underweight.
Researchers examined data from 6,128 patients who had previously been untreated for their metastatic colorectal cancer, from four different studies in the US and Europe.
Their average BMI at the start of cancer treatment was 25.3, considered slightly overweight.
All received the drug bevacizumab with chemotherapy as part of their treatment.
Bevacizumab, also known by the brand name Avastin, is used in patients with metastatic cancer to slow the growth of new blood vessels.
Researchers divided patients into four BMI ranges, and measured participants' survival rates.
They also measured the length of time that patients' tumours stopped growing, which was measured as progression-free survival.
Patients with the lowest BMI from 20 to 24.9, which would be considered a healthy weight according to BMI guidelines, survived an average of 21.1 months after starting their treatment.
Those with a BMI of 25 to 29, considered overweight, survived two-and-a-half months longer, researchers found.
Furthermore, obese patients seemed to fare best.
Patients deemed obese with a BMI of 30 to 35, survived an average of 24 months.
And those with BMIs of 35.1 and higher, survived an average of 23.7 months.
Although the study found significant differences in how long a patient lived based on their BMI ranges, patients of all weights saw similar rates of progression-free survival, or a halt in their tumour growth.
Patients whose tumours stopped growing went an average of 10 months without progression, but the stoppage in tumour growth does not necessarily improve chances of survival.
The study does not indicate that being overweight is in any way protective for patients undergoing cancer treatment, Dr Zafar said.
It is noteworthy that the study was presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology World Congress on Gastrointestinal Cancer.
SM/IINA

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