Factors identified for increased post-surgery weight gain among breast cancer survivors

the Oncology Nurse Advisor take:

According to a new study published in the journal BMC Cancer, researchers have found that average long-term weight gain among breast cancer survivors is small, but certain subgroups of women experience greater weight gain associated with adverse health.

For the study, researchers sought to investigate body weight changes following breast cancer over 6 years and whether weight changes are linked with behavioral, diagnostic, personal, or treatment characteristics. Researchers identified 287 Australian women diagnosed with early-stage invasive breast cancer.

Results showed that 57% of women were overweight or obese at 6 months post-surgery, which increased to 68% at 72 months post-surgery. Researchers found that 24% of participants experienced clinically significant weight gain between 6 and 18 months and 39% experienced clinically significant weight gain between 6 and 72 months post-surgery.

In addition, researchers found that more extensive lymph node removal, receiving radiation therapy, being treated on the non-dominant side, and decreased physical activity levels at 6 months post-surgery were associated with higher body weights after breast cancer.

The findings suggest that healthy weight education should be integrated into breast cancer care to improve the quality of cancer survivorship.