The Impact of Obesity on Surgically Treated Locoregional Melanoma.

2021 
BACKGROUND The impact of obesity on early-stage melanoma is poorly understood. We examined the impact of overweight and obesity on clinical outcomes in locoregional melanoma. METHODS Adults who underwent surgery at Emory University Healthcare between 2010 and 2017 for clinically stage I-II cutaneous melanoma, with known stage, height, and weight at the time of presentation, were identified. The relationship between body mass index (BMI) and clinicopathologic characteristics was assessed. RESULTS Of 1756 patients, 584 were obese (33.2%; BMI ≥ 30), 658 were overweight (37.5%; BMI ≥ 25 and  0.05). At 33 months' median follow-up, obesity was not an independent predictor of stage-specific overall survival (p > 0.05). CONCLUSION Obese patients are nearly twice as likely as their normal-weight peers to present with thicker melanomas, but they have similar stage-specific overall survival and SLN positivity. Obesity may promote more aggressive growth of the primary tumor, and barriers to preventive care in obese patients may exacerbate later-stage presentation.
    • Correction
    • Source
    • Cite
    • Save
    • Machine Reading By IdeaReader
    57
    References
    1
    Citations
    NaN
    KQI
    []