Obesity in adult lymphoma survivors

As a result of therapeutic advances, survivors of lymphoma are now living longer. However, their mortality is higher when compared to the general population, probably due to multiple factors. Survivors of childhood leukemia and lymphoma appear to have an increased prevalence of obesity. The objectives of this retrospective study were to analyze weight change after lymphoma treatment in an adult population and determine factors predictive of weight gain. Data were collected from 219 patients and analyzed sequentially at the initial visit and at 6, 12 and 18 months. There was a progressive increase in weight from the initial visit to 6 months (1.5% increase of initial body weight), 12 months (4.5%) and 18 months (6.4%). More than 9% of patients experienced weight gain greater than 20% during follow-up. There was a statistically significant association between the percentage of increase in weight and age, B symptoms and body mass index (BMI) at presentation. Younger patients, those with B symptoms or those with lower BMI manifested more weight gain (p = 0.0008, p = 0.0440 and p = 0.0009, respectively). Other assessed factors had no effect on weight gain including sex, race, lymphoma histology, disease outcome, radiation therapy, number of treatment regimens and use of steroids. Further studies are needed to explore long-term weight trends and their impact on the health of lymphoma survivors.