The Effect of Overweight on The Risk of Recurrence in Tunisian Patients with Operable Breast Cancer

Inès Ayadi Masmoudi, Amine Masmoudi, Nabil Toumi, Afef Khanfir, Mounir Frikha, Jamel Daoud

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DOI: 10.4236/jct.2011.23040                

Abstract

Obesity is associated with worse breast cancer outcomes in Western and Asian women. The present study was to determine the relation of body mass index (BMI) to disease-free survival (DFS) in Tunisian patients with operable breast cancer. We retrospectively reviewed data from 223 patients with operable breast cancer treated with primary surgery and adjuvant epirubicin-based chemotherapy. Patients were categorized into lower-BMI (<27.5 kg/m²; N=114) v higher-BMI (>27.5 kg/m²; N=113). Patients’and disease characteristics, including tumor size and lymph node status, were similar between the 2 groups. With a median follow-up of 56 months, there were 42 and 30 DFS events in the lower- and higher-BMI group, respectively (adjusted hazard ratio (HR): 0.74; 95% CI, 0.43 to 1.26; p=0.26). A significant interaction (p<0.001) was found between BMI category and time, with a significant DFS advantage for the higher-BMI group after 3 years (adjusted HR: 0.28; 95% CI, i to 0.86; p=0.03). We conclude that overweight is associated with a decreased risk of late recurrence in Tunisian patients with operable breast cancer.

Keywords

Adjuvant Chemotherapy, Early Breast Cancer, Obesity, Recurrence, Tunisia

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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