Body weight changes after the diagnosis of endometrial cancer and their influences on disease-related prognosis.

OBJECTIVES

Obesity is associated with the incidence of endometrial cancer. At present it is unclear whether it is also associated with cancer recurrence. This analysis evaluated the consequences of weight changes after diagnosis of endometrial cancer during the follow-up.

METHODS

Records of patients with endometrial cancer (n = 705) were reviewed for body weight after the diagnosis of cancer during the follow-up and related to recurrence-free survival.

RESULTS

About two-thirds of all endometrial patients gained more or less weight after the diagnosis of endometrial cancer. Patients with moderate weight gain (≤ 1 kg/m(2)) 6 months after the diagnosis had the best prognosis, followed by patients with greater weight gain (>1 kg/m(2)) and those with moderate weight loss (≤ 1 kg/m(2)). The fact that weight loss was associated with poor prognosis also persisted when the analysis was restricted to recurrences which occurred more than 18 months later.

CONCLUSIONS

Weight loss after the diagnosis and treatment of cancer may be an adverse prognostic factor. Although it was impossible to distinguish between intentional and non-intentional weight loss, these results argue against weight loss for risk reduction in patients with confirmed endometrial cancer. However, it may be reasonable regarding the risk reduction of non-cancer related morbidity and mortality. Detailed, prospective randomised trials are warranted.