Cancer Patients Also Experience the 'Obesity Paradox'... "Higher Body Fat Linked to Lower Mortality Risk After Cancer Surgery"

Samsung Seoul Hospital Professors Jonghwan Lee, Jeongchan Park, and Seunghwa Lee Team
Lowest Mortality Risk Within 3 Years After Surgery for BMI 25 or Higher

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-joo] A study has found that the fatter a person is, the higher their survival rate after cancer surgery. This confirms the so-called 'obesity paradox' once again in cancer patients.

The obesity paradox refers to the phenomenon where obesity itself is clearly a disease and a cause of other diseases, but in some conditions, it appears to aid treatment. It is known that obese patients have better prognoses after surgeries for coronary artery disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, chronic renal failure, and others.

The research team led by Professors Lee Jong-hwan and Park Jeong-chan from the Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, and Professor Lee Seung-hwa from the Department of Cardiology at Samsung Medical Center, announced on the 31st that the risk of death after cancer surgery was lower in obese patients compared to those with normal weight or underweight.

This study tracked 87,567 cancer patients who underwent surgery at Samsung Medical Center from March 2010 to December 2019. The team categorized patients by body mass index (BMI): under 18.5 as underweight (2,787 patients, 3.2%), 18.5 to under 25 as normal weight (53,980 patients, 61.6%), and 25 or above as obese (30,800 patients, 35.2%), then compared the risk of death after surgery among these groups.

As a result, 5,620 patients (6.4% of the total) died within three years after surgery. Looking at BMI alone, obese patients had the lowest risk of death. The risk of death in obese patients was 31% lower than in normal-weight patients and 62% lower than in underweight patients. Among obese patients, the difference was even more pronounced in those who were heavier. When focusing on patients with a BMI over 30, their risk of death was 43% lower than that of normal-weight patients. The risk of cancer recurrence showed a similar trend, with obese patients having a 19% lower risk compared to normal-weight patients and 16% lower compared to underweight patients.

The research team proposed several hypotheses for these results. First, in cancer surgeries that impose significant physical burden, obese patients may find it relatively easier to recover their strength compared to normal-weight or underweight patients. They also suggested that the superior ability of obese patients to suppress postoperative inflammatory responses might contribute to better prognoses. Additionally, since obese patients often have multiple comorbidities and undergo frequent examinations and screenings, cancers may be detected relatively earlier, which could have been advantageous.

However, the research team cautioned that these results should not lead to the optimistic conclusion that obesity helps in cancer treatment. They also added that the obesity paradox does not apply to female cancers closely related to hormones, such as breast cancer and gynecological cancers.

Professor Lee said, “Since this study analyzed data without distinguishing cancer types and stages, more refined research is needed in the future to accurately assess the impact of obesity. However, as this study demonstrated that cancer patients with body weight below an appropriate level before surgery tend to have poorer prognoses, both patients and medical staff should carefully monitor such cases and actively engage in treatment.”

This study was published in the recent issue of the international academic journal ‘PLoS One’.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.