(Press-News.org) Boston – Women with obesity when they are diagnosed with early breast cancer have a higher risk of recurrence or a second cancer compared to women whose weight is in the normal range and it can be hard to lose weight after being diagnosed with breast cancer. Now, a clinical trial has shown that a telephone-based weight loss program can help patients with breast cancer whose body mass index is in the overweight or obese range lower their weight by a meaningful degree.
The findings, to be reported by Dana-Farber Cancer Institute investigators at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting, set the stage for follow-up research into whether this type of program can extend patients' survival and lower their risk of a breast cancer recurrence.
"We know that women with obesity when they are diagnosed with breast cancer have a higher risk of dying of the disease, of developing second cancers, and of dying from any cause," says Dana-Farber's Jennifer Ligibel, MD, the principal investigator of the trial, who will present the findings at ASCO. "But we don't know whether helping patients lose weight after diagnosis will improve treatment outcomes. That's what this study seeks to discover."
The Breast Cancer Weight Loss (BWEL) trial, a Phase III trial supported by the National Cancer Institute, enrolled nearly 3,200 women from more than 600 cancer treatment centers in the U.S. and Canada. The participants, who had been diagnosed with stage 2 or 3 HER2-negative breast cancer, had completed chemotherapy and radiation therapy (if it was to be administered) and were randomly assigned to receive either a telephone-based weight-loss program plus health education or health education alone. The weight-loss program, conducted by phone, coached patients in reducing their calorie intake and increasing exercise.
Participants' height and weight were measured when they entered the study and 12 months later. At the 12-month mark, researchers checked the weight of nearly 2,400 patients who were free of breast cancer.
"We found the weight-loss program was highly successful in helping patients lower their weight," Ligibel says. Women who received the telephone-based intervention lost an average of 4.8% of their baseline body weight, compared to an average 0.9% increase in body weight among those in the control group.
The findings were especially noteworthy in that they were consistent regardless of patients' age, race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and education level, and type of breast cancer they had.
Within this overall trend, however, researchers noticed some differences in patterns of weight change among the participants. While the weight-loss program was effective in both older and younger patients, younger women experienced a somewhat smaller weight loss. Younger women who didn't receive weight-loss coaching gained a bit more weight than older participants, so the amount of weight change was relatively similar in older and younger patients.
A similar pattern occurred among Black patients, who made up 13% of trial participants. Black women in the weight-loss program group lost less weight, on average, than others but Black women in the control group gained more weight than control participants of other races and ethnicities. However, women in the weight loss program lost more weight than women in the control group, regardless of their age, race, ethnicity, or other characteristics.
The results provide a lead-in to the next phase of the study. "We'll continue to follow patients who enrolled in the BWEL trial to determine whether the weight-loss program reduces the risk of cancer recurrence and cancer-related mortality," Ligibel remarks. "We hope this research ultimately shows that healthy lifestyle change after a cancer diagnosis has a positive impact on outcomes, so we'll be able to routinely offer this type of program to patients as a part of their breast cancer care."
Ligibel will present results from the BWEL trial during the Oral Abstract Session on Symptoms and Survivorship (Abstract 12001) during ASCO in Chicago on June 5, 2023, 9:12am ET.
For all ASCO-related media inquiries, call or email Victoria Warren, 617-939-5531, Victoria_Warren@dfci.harvard.edu. Follow the meeting live on Twitter using the hashtag #ASCO23 and follow Dana-Farber News on Twitter at @DanaFarberNews.
About Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute is one of the world’s leading centers of cancer research and treatment. Dana-Farber’s mission is to reduce the burden of cancer through scientific inquiry, clinical care, education, community engagement, and advocacy. We provide the latest treatments in cancer for adults through Dana-Farber Brigham Cancer Center and for children through Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center. Dana-Farber is the only hospital nationwide with a top 5 U.S. News & World Report Best Cancer Hospital ranking in both adult and pediatric care.
As a global leader in oncology, Dana-Farber is dedicated to a unique and equal balance between cancer research and care, translating the results of discovery into new treatments for patients locally and around the world, offering more than 1,100 clinical trials.
###
END
Striking differences in the way high school students socialise may be one of the reasons behind a dramatic drop in youth drinking over the last 20 years, a study from the University of Otago, New Zealand, has found.
Public health researcher Dr Jude Ball has compared attitudes to drinking among high school students in 1999-2001 to those in 2022.
Dr Ball and colleagues Dr Michaela Pettie and Loleseti Poasa interviewed 64 students aged between 14 and 17 at a co-ed school in Wellington in 2022, and compared their views to 41 Christchurch ...
Black adults who live in the United States have a 59% higher risk of premature death than White adults.
A new study from Tulane University published in Lancet Public Health has found that this gap can be entirely explained by disparities in eight areas of life critical to health and well-being: employment, income, food security, education level, access to healthcare, quality health insurance, home ownership and marital status.
These eight factors are called social determinants of health. Using data from the National Health and Nutrition ...
A new analysis of ancient faeces taken from two Jerusalem latrines dating back to the biblical Kingdom of Judah has uncovered traces of a single-celled microorganism Giardia duodenalis – a common cause of debilitating diarrhoea in humans.
A research team led by the University of Cambridge say it is the oldest example we have of this diarrhoea-causing parasite infecting humans anywhere on the planet. The study is published in the journal Parasitology.
“The fact that these parasites were present in sediment from two Iron Age Jerusalem cesspits suggests that dysentery was endemic in the Kingdom of Judah,” ...
Emergency departments (EDs) are currently unsafe places for both professionals and patients, according to the results of an international survey carried out for the European Society of Emergency Medicine (EUSEM) and published today (26th May) in the European Journal of Emergency Medicine1. The main reasons for this are staff shortages and overcrowding due to the non-availability of beds in wards necessitating the provision of care in corridors. Respondents to the survey also felt that they had insufficient support from hospital management.
Around 90% of professionals surveyed felt that at times the number of patients ...
Chronic kidney disease is a growing problem worldwide and in the aging U.S. population. But could the groundwork for this progressive disease have been laid while its victims were still in utero?
Newly launched research at the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health seeks to determine if pregnant mothers’ environmental exposure to toxic metals impacts kidney development in their babies, setting the stage for a problem that doesn’t become apparent until the baby is an adult.
The National Institutes of Health recently awarded a three-year, $2.2 million “high risk, high reward” grant to Dr. Alison ...
University of Cincinnati Cancer Center researchers will present abstracts at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting 2023, held in Chicago June 2-6.
New trial tests immunotherapy before liver transplant
Liver transplant is the best treatment for early stage liver cancer in patients with liver cirrhosis, but 25% to 35% of patients fail to reach the transplant stage due to the cancer’s progression while waiting for a transplant.
UC’s Davendra Sohal, MD, will present information ...
WASHINGTON --- Researchers at Georgetown University’s Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center studied the microbiome of people with colorectal cancer and found the make-up of the bacteria, fungi and viruses in a person’s tumor varied significantly depending on whether they were diagnosed with early-onset disease (age 45 or younger) or late-onset disease (age 65 or older). These results may help answer the riddle of why more young people are developing colorectal cancer, particularly those who ...
ABSTRACT: 7003
Treatment with luspatercept improved red blood cell counts and erythroid responses compared to treatment with epoetin alfa in patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), allowing the majority to no longer require regular blood transfusions. Results from the Phase III COMMANDS trial, led by researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, were reported at the 2023 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting.
The study evaluated the efficacy and safety of first-line treatment with luspatercept, which enhances red blood cell maturation, compared with epoetin alfa, a therapy commonly used for low blood cell count, ...
MIAMI, FLORIDA (Strictly EMBARGOED Until May 25, 2023, at 5 P.M. EDT) – Breast cancer treatments that can save a woman’s life can seriously harm her sexual health, says Dr. Kristin E. Rojas, a breast cancer surgeon at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. Although doctors have not historically been prepared to help patients manage these toxic side effects, Rojas is leading efforts to turn the tide.
Rojas, both a fellowship-trained breast surgical oncologist and a gynecologic surgeon, is a national leader in treating sexual dysfunction in female ...
MIAMI, FLORIDA (EMBARGOED UNTIL MAY 25, 2023, AT 5 P.M. ET) – An early-phase study led by researchers at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine along with other Cancer Centers, suggests that an experimental therapy may have promising results in treating cancers with BRAF gene alterations – including certain mutations not previously targeted by BRAF inhibitors.
The Phase 1/2a study looking at safety and dosing enrolled 113 patients and targeted a wide range of cancers, including high-grade glioma, low-grade glioma, colorectal cancer, papillary thyroid cancer, melanoma, pancreatic cancer, ovarian cancer, non-small cell ...
