Body Mass Index: A Predictor of Survival in Patients Resected for Squamous Cell Cancer of the Head and Neck

Abstract LEARNING OUTCOME: Use body mass index to predict survival in patients undergoing primary resection for squamous cell cancer of the head and neck. Patients presenting for resection of squamous cell cancer of the head and neck are often malnourished. Mainourishment at time of surgery is suspected to be related to poor survival; however there is little data to support this notion. We studied 362 patients undergoing surgery for squamous cell cancer of the head and neck to determine if body mass index (BMI) was an independent predictor of survival. In our analysis we examined the prognostic significance of body mass index, tumor stage, disease type (primary v. recurrent), age, gender and functional status using the cox proportional regression survival analysis. Disease type appears to ,be the most important factor in predicting survival in the total population. In the 122 recurrent cases where mean survival was 26 months and mean BMI=24 results indicated that no other factors were significantly related to survival. However, in the 220 primary cases where mean survival was 37 months and mean BMI=25, body mass index (p