Introduction: Breast cancer (BC) is the most common cancer in women, and the incidence of brain metastasis (BM) from BC ranges from 20% to 30%, with a median survival of 10 to 15 months. Previous reports have shown that the presence of obesity or diabetes negatively impacts survival. The present study investigates the association between obesity or diabetes mellitus (DM) and overall survival of patients with BC with BM.
Materials and methods: A database from 2 referral centers for the period of July 2014 to February 2018 was analyzed. The inclusion criteria were as follows: patients who had a confirmed diagnosis of BC with BM were followed and treated at these centers. Demographic data, body weight and height, clinical and oncologic history, functional status, prognostic scales, and prognoses were examined.
Results: A total of 228 patients were included. The median age at BM was 50 years; the median survival after diagnosis was 12.1 months; 108 patients had a body mass index (BMI) ≥ 25, and 40 (17%) patients had DM. The association between survival and the presence of BMI > 25 exhibited a P value of 0.3.
Discussion: We found no association between overweight, obesity, or DM and survival in patients with BC with BM. The role of obesity in cancer is a robust research topic, as there are many questions to be answered.
Conclusion: Obesity as a prognostic indicator should be further studied, because we found no association between overall survival and either patients with BM from BC with a BMI > 25 or those with normal weight.
Keywords: Brain metastases; Breast cancer; Overweight; Prognosis; Survival.
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