New Delhi, Jan 13 (NationPress) Obesity at the moment of cancer diagnosis in children has the potential to influence survival rates, according to a study released on Monday.
In 2022, more than 390 million children and teenagers aged 5–19 were classified as overweight, including 160 million suffering from obesity, based on data provided by the World Health Organization (WHO). Obesity is recognized as a significant precursor to numerous non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, and cancer.
“Our research emphasizes the detrimental effects of obesity across all varieties of childhood cancers. It underscores the necessity to explore various methods to alleviate the adverse impacts of obesity on cancer outcomes in forthcoming trials,” stated Thai Hoa Tran from the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Sainte-Justine in Montreal, Canada.
The research team carried out a retrospective analysis of 11,291 children diagnosed with cancer between 2001 and 2020 throughout Canada.
Among these children, aged between 2 and 18 years, 10.5 percent were classified as obese at the time of their diagnosis.
When comparing patients without obesity at initial cancer diagnosis to those who were obese, it was found that the former had higher rates of 5-year event-free survival (79.6 percent vs. 77.5 percent) and overall survival (85.9 percent vs. 83.0 percent).
After adjusting for various factors such as age, sex, ethnicity, neighborhood income quintile, treatment era, and cancer types, the research revealed that obesity at the time of diagnosis was associated with a 16 percent increase in the risk of cancer relapse. Additionally, there was a 29 percent rise in the likelihood of mortality, as indicated by the study published in the journal Cancer.
The adverse effect of obesity on prognosis was particularly notable in patients diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia and brain tumors, the team noted.
The study “also highlights the pressing need to combat the epidemic of childhood obesity, as it can lead to serious health repercussions,” Tran added.
