Obesity and Breast Cancer Clinical Trial
Official title:
Impact of Body Mass Index on Outcomes of Breast Cancer Management (Retrospective Study)
Obesity has been linked to an increased risk of developing a number of malignancies, including postmenopausal breast cancer. One of the established risk factors for breast cancer development in post-menopausal women is obesity which has further been linked to breast cancer recurrence and poorer survival in pre- and post-menopausal breast cancer.
The biological mechanisms underlying the association between obesity and breast cancer could
involve interacting mediators of hormones, adipocytokines, and inflammatory cytokines which
link to cell survival or apoptosis, migration and proliferation. Higher level of oestradiol
produced in postmenopausal women through aromatization of androgens in the adipose tissues
and higher level of insulin, a condition common in obese women, are linked to poorer
prognosis in breast cancer. A possible interaction between leptin, insulin and
obesity-related markers of inflammation have also been linked to breast cancer outcomes.
Non-biological mechanisms could include chemotherapy under-dosing in obese women, suboptimal
treatment, and obesity-related complications.
The impact of body mass index on treatment outcome in patients receiving endocrine therapy,
there have been consistent results indicating that the efficacy of aromatase inhibitors vary
with body mass index; however, the efficacy of tamoxifen is not body mass index-dependent. In
the Arimidex, Tamoxifen, Alone or in Combination trial, which compared the efficacy of
anastrozole against tamoxifen as an adjuvant treatment for hormone receptor-positive
post-menopausal breast cancer patients, anastrozole, a non-steroidal aromatase inhibitor, was
significantly less effective in post-menopausal breast cancer patients with a high body mass
index, whereas an equal efficacy of tamoxifen was shown across all body mass index levels.
Observational study. Retrospective analysis of data that will be collected from breast cancer
patients medical records as body mass index and their response to treatment, progression free
survival and overall survival.
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