Oral Presentation Skin Cancer 2024

Association between body mass index and melanoma prognosis in patients with high-risk primaries. (#87)

Hansa Sharma 1 , Maria Hughes 1 , Danielle Gavanescu 1 , Maryrose Malt 2 , Mark Smithers 3 , Kiarash Khosrotehrani 1 4 , Lena von Schuckmann 1 4 5
  1. Frazer Institute - The University of Queensland, Woolloongabba, Queensland, Australia
  2. Queensland Institute of Medical Research (QIMR), Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
  3. Queensland Melanoma Project, Princess Alexandra Hospital - The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
  4. Department of Dermatology, Princess Alexandra Hospital, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
  5. Department of Dermatology, Sunshine Coast University Hospital, Birtynia, Queensland, Australia

Background:

Obesity is hypothesised to worsen melanoma prognosis, yet there is conflicting literature.

Objective:

To explore the association between body mass index (BMI) and melanoma prognosis (tumour stage at diagnosis and tumour recurrence) in patients with high-risk (T1b – T4a) primary cutaneous melanoma in Queensland, Australia.

Methods:

For this prospective study, 700 patients with newly diagnosed stage T1 to T4b cutaneous melanoma were recruited between 2010-2014 in Queensland, Australia. We used logistic regression and Cox survival regression to evaluate the associations between BMI, tumour stage and tumour recurrence, respectively.

Results:

Obese participants were significantly more likely to have an earlier tumour stage at diagnosis compared to healthy-weight participants (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 1.99, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.10 – 3.61, p-value 0.05). No association was found between BMI and melanoma recurrence at 7 years post-diagnosis of the primary tumour (adjusted hazard ratio [HR] 0.94, 95% CI 0.76 – 1.16, p-value 0.55 for overweight; HR 0.93, 95% CI 0.74 – 1.18, p-value 0.55 for obese).

Limitations:

BMI is an imperfect tool to measure body composition.

Conclusion:

Our findings suggest obese patients are diagnosed at earlier tumour stages, yet BMI has no effect on melanoma recurrence.