Changes in body composition during and after adjuvant or neo-adjuvant chemotherapy in women with breast cancer stage I–IIIB compared with changes over a similar timeframe in women without cancer

Purpose Body weight and body composition may change during and after adjuvant or neo-adjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer. However, most studies did not include a comparison group of women without cancer, thus could not assess whether observed changes differed from age-related fluctuations in body weight and body composition over time. We assessed changes in body composition during and after chemotherapy in breast cancer patients compared with age-matched women not diagnosed with cancer.