Correlation of body mass index with female survival benefit among a single-institution cohort of cutaneous melanomas >1 mm thick following wide-local excision and sentinel lymph node biopsy.

172 Background: As the 10-year mortality for localized cutaneous melanomas (CMMs) > 1.00 mm is 40%, non-therapeutic interventions to supplement active surveillance following resection may be beneficial. Data describing the impact of lifestyle choices on survival in this population are limited. Methods: 837 consecutive patients who underwent wide local excision and sentinel lymph node biopsy (WLE + SLNB) at Yale during 1997-2012 for CMMs > 1.00 mm thick were enrolled. Smoking, alcohol use and caffeine consumption were assessed by questionnaire at diagnosis and were each categorized according to quantity used with never-users as the reference. Body mass index (BMI) was calculated from height and weight measured at surgery. Crude and multivariable marginal relationships between lifestyle factors and disease free survival (DFS), the latter adjusted for age, sex, thickness (mm), ulceration, mitotic count, and SLN status, were assessed using Cox proportional hazards. Interactions with clinicopathologic factors ...