And good news for men, also. At least for the obese(especially men) who already have cancer AND are getting immune therapy. Despite generally worse news for the obese as far as getting cancer and how it progresses once they have it, it appears that they respond significantly better to some of the new immune therapy drugs. If I am reading them right:
"It appears that the hormone leptin could be directly associated with this phenomenon.7 Notably, tumor growth and spread were also more rapid in obese mice. Perhaps paradoxically, application of anti–PD-1 as a monotherapy instead led to markedly increased antitumor responses in obese mice compared with lean counterparts.7 Importantly, no overt toxic effects were observed in treated tumor-bearing obese mice. In an analysis of a cohort (n = 250) of patients who received checkpoint blockade for multiple cancers and were stratified by BMI, improved responses were observed among patients with high BMI. These patients (BMI >30) had significantly longer progression-free survival (median, 8 months vs 4.7 months) as well as increased overall survival (median, 17.4 months vs 12 months) with no increases in adverse events compared with patients with normal BMI.7 Thus, despite increased tumor progression and immune suppression occurring in obesity, markedly augmented immune responses following checkpoint blockade therapy occurred.
Similar clinical findings regarding improved oncological outcomes among 170 patients with melanoma with high BMI (>30) who received checkpoint blockade were also recently reported. Outcomes were assessed among subgroups divided by BMI, 18.5-24.9 (normal), 25.0-29.9 (overweight), and more than 30 (obese). Progression-free survival was reduced in obese patients (hazard ratio [HR], 0.75), and overall survival was improved (HR, 0.64) compared with patients with a BMI of less than 30. This study also suggested that sex plays a key role (at least in patients with melanoma), for only male patients with high BMI (≥30 vs <30) demonstrated increased survival benefits (progression-free survival was improved [HR, 0.63] as was overall survival [HR, 0.55] in men; there was no significant effect in women) after checkpoint blockade, as well as other therapies.8 Marked differences of body fat deposition in males vs females exist adding to obvious hormonal differences and suggesting important sex-related differences linking immunotherapy responses and outcome...................."
So, where is that delicious pie my wife baked? I think I need to put on a few pounds! ;)
I imagine this link from JAMA is not going to work- I have had trouble with these llinks previously, probably because you have to sign in or something, but I will try it anyway:
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2728948?guestaccesskey=97992abd-0332-4121-b50d-3f52b0995752&utm_source=silverchair&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=article_alert-jama&utm_content=etoc&utm_term=040219YEP, won't work. Here is a link to a similar article:
https://www.everydayhealth.com/cancer/treatment/people-who-are-obese-respond-better-some-cancer-immunotherapy-drugs/Post Edited (BillyBob@388) : 4/3/2019 8:16:15 AM (GMT-6)