Abstract LB-276: Prospective study of body mass index and adult weight change with colorectal cancer survival, overall and by tumor microsatellite instability status
Authors: Campbell Peter T. , Newton Christina , Newcomb Polly A. , Ahnen Dennis , Baron John , Cleary Sean , Cotterchio Michelle , Farris A. Brad , Figueiredo Jane , Green Roger C. , Marchand Loic L. , McLaughlin John , Phipps Amanda , Potter John D. , Renehan Andrew , Win Aung K. , Lindor Noralane , Limburg Paul 
Published: May 2015

Background: Tumor features such as stage, grade, and microsatellite instability (MSI) status have relevance for colorectal cancer survival whereas the prognostic role of body mass index (BMI) is unclear. We assessed the association of BMI and adult weight gain on colorectal cancer survival, overall and by strata of sex and MSI.

Methods: Participants were identified from a multi-center cohort that includes 6,763 colorectal cancer patients with invasive colorectal cancer who were enrolled into the Colon Cancer Family Registry from 1997 to 2008. Vital status was updated through direct contact with patients/next-of-kin and/or linkage with mortality records. BMI 2 years before diagnosis, BMI at age 20 years, and adult weight gain were derived from self-reports of height and weight (i.e., weight 2 years before diagnosis and weight at age 20 years). Tumor MSI status was available for 4,987 patients. Multivariable, two-sided hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated from delayed-entry Cox proportional hazards models, controlling for age at diagnosis, TNM summary stage (i.e., I, II, III, IV or missing), smoking (current, former, never), and study center.

Results: After a maximum of 13.7 years of follow-up from enrollment to end-of-study (median: 5.3 years), 2,335 patients had died. Higher BMI 2 years before cancer diagnosis (per 5-kg/m2) was associated with higher risk of all-cause mortality overall (HR, 1.10; 95% CI, 1.05 to 1.14), with similar associations when stratified by sex (men: HR, 1.07; 95% CI, 1.02 to 1.14; women: HR, 1.11: 95% CI, 1.05 to 1.17; p-interaction: 0.18) and MSI status (MS-stable/MSI-low: HR, 1.08; 95% CI, 1.03 to 1.14; MSI-high, HR: 1.19; 95% CI, 1.02 to 1.40; p-interaction: 0.88). In joint models, with MS-stable/MSI-low and normal BMI as the referent group, risk of death was lower for those with MSI-high and normal BMI (HR: 0.77; 95% CI: 0.59 to 1.00), higher for MS-stable/MSI-low and high (≥30) BMI (HR: 1.23; 95% CI: 1.07 to 1.42), and essentially the same for MSI-high and high BMI (HR: 0.97; 95% CI: 0.72 to 1.30). Similar patterns of association were observed for BMI at age 20 years and when the outcome was colorectal cancer-specific mortality, although not all associations remained statistically significant for some of the smaller sub-group analyses. After controlling for BMI at age 20 years, adult weight gain was only modestly associated with all-cause mortality (per 5 kg HR: 1.01; 95% CI: 1.00 to 1.02; p-trend: 0.07).

Conclusion: High pre-diagnosis BMI was associated with increased mortality after colorectal cancer diagnosis; this association was consistent for men and women and by tumor MSI status. These results also suggest that obesity attenuates the survival advantage observed with MSI-high tumors.

Citation Format: Peter T. Campbell, Christina Newton, Polly A. Newcomb, Dennis Ahnen, John Baron, Sean Cleary, Michelle Cotterchio, A. Brad Farris, Jane Figueiredo, Roger C. Green, Loic Le Marchand, John McLaughlin, Amanda Phipps, John D. Potter, Andrew Renehan, Aung Ko Win, Noralane Lindor, Paul Limburg. Prospective study of body mass index and adult weight change with colorectal cancer survival, overall and by tumor microsatellite instability status. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2014 Apr 5-9; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2014;74(19 Suppl):Abstract nr LB-276. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2014-LB-276