Association between Body Mass Index and Immune-Related Adverse Events (irAEs) among Advanced-Stage Cancer Patients...

Evidence regarding the association between body mass index (BMI) and immune-related adverse events (irAEs) among cancer patients receiving immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) is limited. Here, we use cross-sectional hospital-based data to explore their relationship. Pre-treatment BMI was treated as an ordinal variable (<25, 25 to ≤30, ≥30 kg/m²). The outcome of interest was irAEs after ICI initiation. A multivariable logistic regression model estimated the adjusted odds ratio (aOR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) of BMI. A total of 684 patients with stage III or IV cancer were included in the study (lung: 269, melanoma: 204, other: 211). The mean age at the first dose of ICI was 64.1 years (SD = 13.5), 394 patients (57.6%) were male, and over one-third (N = 260, 38.0%) were non-White. Overall, 52.9% of patients had BMI ≥ 25 kg/m² (25 to ≤30: 217, ≥30: 145) and 288 (42.1%) had irAEs after ICI treatment. Patients with higher BMI tended to have a higher rate of irAEs (<25: 35.7%, 25 to ≤30: 47.0%, ≥30: 49.0%). The multivariable logistic regression yielded consistent results (BMI ≥ 30 vs. BMI < 25: aOR = 1.47, 95% CI = 0.96-2.23; 25 ≤ BMI < 30 vs. BMI < 25: aOR = 1.46, 95% CI = 1.02-2.11, p-trend = 0.04). In conclusion, among patients with advanced cancer receiving ICIs, the rate of irAEs appears to be higher among those with higher BMI.