Obese and overweight people treated for acute lymphoblastic leukemia have lower survival rates, according to research published in the American Society of Hematology’s journal Blood Advances.

As there is one growing obesity epidemic, scientists are taking a closer look at how body weight can affect health. New research highlights the possible association of increased body mass index with worse treatment outcomes for acute lymphoblastic leukemia in adolescents and young adults.

“We’ve known for about 15 years that obesity affects survival in pediatric patients treated for acute lymphoblastic leukemia, and more recently we’ve identified a similar relationship in adult populations,” notes Dr. Sy Simoni, the study’s lead author and a fellow at the Institute Dana-Farber Cancer Center in Boston. He adds, “We wanted more detailed data on this to understand why this association exists and how much it is influenced by age.”

Investigators collected data from 388 people aged 15–50 years, with a mean age of 24 years, who were treated for acute lymphoblastic leukemia between 2008 and 2021. A total of 53.3% of the participants included in the study had a normal body mass index, while the rest were classified as overweight or obese. Overweight and obese patients showed, compared to patients with a normal body mass index, a higher rate of mortality without a previous relapse (11.7% vs. 2.8%), a lower rate of survival without other events (63% vs. 77% in four years) and worse overall survival (64% vs. 83%).

In addition, researchers they found equivalent overall survival between younger (15-29 years) and older (30-50 years) patients with normal body mass index, which is an extremely important finding, as age is often considered an adverse prognostic feature in acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

The researchers also found that elevated triglycerides were associated with better survival. Finally, interestingly, the researchers found that the main factor leading to worse outcomes in all patients studied was not disease recurrence, but non-relapse mortality.

Mr. Simoni concludes that “moving forward, we hope that measurements of obesity will be considered a vital variable in determining the most appropriate treatment regimens for each individual patient.”