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Are Obese Women Getting Short-changed By Chemotherapy
By Naweko San-Joyz, Thu Dec 8th
How much chemotherapy does an obese woman need? Typically anobese woman with would receive reduced doses ofchemotherapy as they battle breast cancer. Back in June of 2005,a study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine concludedthat obese women should receive chemotherapy based on actualwomen, and not in reduced amounts as the standard practice. And now again a study presented in the August 2005 edition ofLancet claims that doctors should not reduce chemotherapy dosesfor obese women when no receptors for the hormone oestrogen havebeen found on the cells. This type of cancer iscalled oestrogen-receptor negative. Clinicians often reduce chemotherapy doses for obese patientsbecause of worries about how the treatment may react with thepatient and affect their overall health.
According to the study’s director Marco Colleoni of the EuropeanInstitute of Oncology, Italy, and his colleagues, reducing thefirst course of chemotherapy for obese patients withoestrogen-receptor negative proves “detrimental”. Colleoni and his team looked at the relation between body-massindex (BMI), chemotherapy dose reduction, oestrogen receptorexpression, and outcome for pre-menopausal women with breastcancer by examining data from four randomized trials. They found that 97 out of 249 obese patients received less than85% of protocol specified dose during the first
course ofchemotherapy compared with patients with normal and intermediateBMI. Obese patients with oestrogen-receptor negative disease thatreceived 85% or more of the first protocol specified dose hadsignificantly better disease-free survival and overall survivalthan those who received less than 85% of the normallyrecommended dosage. Yet, obese patients with oestrogen-receptor positive breastcancer who had reduced doses of chemotherapy did not have asignificant difference in their outcome compared with thosegiven the recommended chemotherapy doses. And contrary to popular practice, the researchers also noticedthat obese patients initially treated with protocol doses ofchemotherapy did not have more toxicity than patients whoreceived reduced doses. Dr Marco Colleoni concluded that, “Our findings suggest that forwomen with ER-absent or ER-low tumours, reduction inchemotherapy dose should be avoided.” The message for obese women coping with cancer is to be aware ofyour risks and rights. Ask your doctor will she recommend lowerdoses of chemotherapy for you based on your weight and ask why. Resource: Lancet, Archives of Internal Medicine About the author:Health author and Stanford University graduate Naweko San-Joyzlovingly writes from her home in San Diego. Her works includeAcne Messages: Crack the Code of Your Zits and Say Goodbye toAcne (ISBN: 0974912204) and Skinny Fat Chicks, Why We’re StillNot Getting This Dieting Thing (ISBN: 0974912212). http://www.Noixia.com
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