Effect of Initial Body Mass Index on Survival Outcome of Patients With Acute Leukemia: A Single-Center Retrospective Study.

BACKGROUND: Obesity is associated with an increased risk of mortality from cardiovascular causes and occurrence of malignancies. However, the effect of body mass index (BMI) on survival outcome remains controversial in acute leukemia (AL) patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 531 adults with AL who entered clinical trials in our institution between 1994 and 2012 were analyzed retrospectively for the effect of BMI at diagnosis on outcome. The median follow-up was 4.7 years (95% confidence interval [CI], 4.0-5.1). RESULTS: BMI had no significant effect on complete response rate, disease-free survival (DFS), or overall survival (OS) in patients from the whole cohort when considering a cutoff value for BMI of 25, and when analyzed according to age, or initial cytogenetics. In T-acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) patients with BMI > 25, median DFS was not reached with a 3-year DFS at 76%, and median DFS was 16.1 months with 3-year DFS at 13% for those with BMI ≤ 25 (P = .005). Median OS was not reached in T-ALL patients with BMI > 25 versus 28.3 months in those with BMI ≤ 25 (3-year OS: 78% vs. 41%; P = .04). Multivariate analyses confirmed the prognostic value of BMI (> 25 vs. < 25) in T-ALL, but only in terms of DFS (hazard ratio, 0.25; 95% CI, 0.05-0.87; P = .037). However, in a validation cohort of 211 T-ALL patients, these results were not confirmed. CONCLUSION: Results from the literature are very heterogeneous and contradictory regarding the effect of BMI on leukemia outcome. Even if nutritional status during chemotherapy courses is critical, these findings provide further evidence that initial body size does not have a major prognostic effect on survival in AL patients.