The Impact of Obesity on Surgical Complications and Disease Recurrence in Endometrial Cancer: A Retrospective Study of 267 Patients

Background: Obesity is a well-known risk factor for many health problems including endometrial cancer. In addition, it may act as an obstacle to achieving optimal treatment of endometrial cancer and may be associated with disease recurrence. Aim: To explore the impact of obesity on the operative procedure, recurrence of disease and survival in patients with endometrial cancer. Methods: A retrospective study of 267 patients with endometrial carcinoma who underwent surgery at the Oncology Center-Mansoura University from January 2011 to December 2017. Patients were divided according to their body mass index (BMI) into two groups, Group 1 with a BMI Results: Group 1 included 46 patients and Group 2 included 221. The mean operative time was longer in Group 2 without statistically significant difference. Twenty-two (47.8%) patients in Group 1 and 71 (32.1%) in Group 2 underwent lymphadenectomy (p = 0.062). The estimated blood loss was significantly higher in Group 2 (p < 0.05). No statistically significant difference was found between the two groups regarding the intra or post-operative complications, despite the high incidence of complications in Group 2. The median disease-free survival (DFS) was 74 months in Group 1 vs. 66 months in Group 2. Obesity did not have a statistically significant impact on DFS among the studied cases (p=0.24). Conclusion: In the current study, obesity did not significantly impact the operative procedure, surgical complications or DFS in patient with endometrial cancer.