Does body mass index impact the number of LNs harvested and influence long-term survival rate in patients with stage III colon cancer?

Yi Hung Kuo, Kam Fai Lee, Chih Chien Chin*, Wen Shih Huang, Chung Hung Yeh, Jeng Yi Wang

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal Article peer-review

24 Scopus citations

Abstract

Background: The aim of this study is to evaluate whether different body mass index (BMI) values affect lymph node (LN) retrieval and whether such variations influence long-term survival in Asian patients. Method: From January 1995 to July 2003, 645 stage III colon cancer patients were enrolled in our study. Patients were stratified into four groups: Obese (BMI ≧ 27 kg/m2), overweight (24 ≤ BMI < 27 kg/m2), normal (18.5 ≤ BMI < 24 kg/m2), and underweight (BMI < 18.5 kg/m2). Results: Mean BMI in the cohort was 23.3 kg/m2. Mean number of LNs harvested was 23.1, 19.5, 19.8 and 28.1 in the normal, overweight, obese and underweight groups, respectively. There was a significant difference in the mean number of LNs harvested when comparing the overweight and underweight groups to the normal group (p = 0.013 and p = 0.04, respectively). Females were overrepresented in the underweight group (p = 0.011), and patients who had proximal colon cancers were more frequently underweight (p = 0.018). The mean number of LNs harvested varied by cases of right hemicolectomy (p = 0.009) and proximal cancer location (p = 0.009) for different BMI groups. Multivariate analysis showed that underweight, proximal colon cancer, well- or moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma and stage IIIC cancer were significant variables for adequate LN recovery. BMI was not significantly associated with relapse-free survival (p = 0.523) or overall survival (p = 0.127). Conclusion: BMI is associated with LN harvest but is not an independent variable in stage III colon cancer survival.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1625-1635
Number of pages11
JournalInternational Journal of Colorectal Disease
Volume27
Issue number12
DOIs
StatePublished - 12 2012

Keywords

  • BMI
  • Colon cancer
  • LNs harvested
  • Survival rate

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