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Overweight Cancer Patients Receiving Immunotherapy May Live Longer Than Thin Patients

Overweight Cancer Patients Receiving Immunotherapy May Live Longer Than Thin Patients
Overweight Cancer Patients Receiving Immunotherapy May Live Longer Than Lighter Patients

According to recent research, overweight cancer patients who receive immunotherapy treatments survive more than twice as long as those who are thin. Read on to know more.

Written by Arushi Bidhuri |Updated : June 18, 2021 8:01 AM IST

Cancer is the second leading cause of mortality in the world. Cancer survival has increased substantially during the last three decades, owing to advancements in cancer therapy and early detection for some forms of the disease. Reports suggest that weight gain and obesity attributes to almost 20 per cent of cancers, including breast, colorectal and prostate cancers. When you're overweight or obese, your body contains more fat than other tissues like muscle and bone. Excess weight increases the risk of some forms of cancer, as well as the likelihood of cancer returning after treatment.

Previous studies have found no association between BMI (body mass index) and cancer treatment. But the findings of a new study published in the Journal of Immunotherapy of Cancer go against the current practice trends.

Overweight Cancer Patients Receiving Immunotherapy Live Longer

According to a study, overweight cancer patients getting immunotherapy treatments survive more than twice as long as lighter patients, but only when the dosage is weight-based. The study results go against current practice trends that support fixed dosage, which involves giving patients the same amount regardless of weight.

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The experts at UT Southwestern Medical Center collected data on almost 300 individuals with melanoma, lung, kidney, and head and neck malignancies over the course of five years. Patients who were overweight had a BMI of 25 or above, which takes into consideration their height and weight.

The researchers discovered that weight-based dosage worked better for overweight individuals, whereas fixed-dose immunotherapy worked better for lighter people. Overweight individuals lived an average of more than 20 months with weight-based dosage, compared to fewer than 10 months for patients who were thin. Both groups showed similar results with fixed dosage, living an average of 16 months.

"Even when we accounted for differences in tumour and treatment types, overweight patients lived twice as long as smaller patients if they received weight-based dosing. However, there was no difference if they received fixed-dose immunotherapy," said senior author David Gerber, M.D., professor of internal medicine within the division of haematology and oncology at UT Southwestern, and associate director of clinical research in the Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center.

How Does Immunotherapy Work?

Immunotherapy is a treatment that boosts your immune system's ability to fight cancer. Your immune system aids in the battle against infections and other illnesses. It is made of white blood cells as well as lymphatic organs and tissues. Immunotherapy is a type of biological therapy.

The immune system finds and eliminates abnormal cells as part of its regular activity, which most likely prevents or slows the progression of many malignancies. Immune cells, for example, are occasionally seen in and surrounding tumours. Even while the immune system may stop or limit cancer growth, cancer cells have developed strategies to escape immune system destruction. Immunotherapy aids the immune system's ability to fight cancer.

(with inputs from agencies)