By ecancer reporter Sharan Sharma

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is a dangerous cancer with 1 year survival rate of only 17.7%. Despite significant advancements in treatment, concomitant improvements have been poor. There is considerable survival variability among patients due to multitude of factors. Researchers have been trying to identify the factors that can predict the disease and help optimise the treatment and survival outcomes. The recent issue of Cancer Causes and Control reports a study in which researchers from USA present the association between body mass index (BMI) and survival in GBM cases. Using a prospective design they recruited 1,259 patients with previously untreated GBM and measured their BMI. In a median follow up of 40 months, 1069 (85%) deaths occurred. For all patients, minimal adjusted analyses indicated no significant association between BMI treated as a continuous variable and survival.

Compared with patients with a BMI 18.5–24.9 kg/m2, the minimally adjusted Hazard Ratio(HR) for overall survival was 1.08 (95% CI, 0.94–1.24) for a BMI 25–29.9 kg/m2 and 1.08 (95% CI, 0.91–28) for a BMI ≥ 30.0 kg/m2. After additional adjustment for adjuvant therapy, HR remains similar for a BMI of  25.0–29.9 kg/m2 and of ≥ 30.0 kg/m2. The researchers summarised, "In this large, prospective multi-center study, we observed no relationship between BMI and survival in newly diagnosed and previously untreated patients with GBM." "Future research is required investigating the prognostic significance of alternative, quantitative measures of body composition and functional performance in GBM and other advanced solid malignancies", they added.