title: Weight changes after adjuvant treatment in Korean women with early breast cancer.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Weight gain is a common problem in breast cancer patients and is reported to be associated with poorer survival. However, most data are limited to Western women. We evaluated weight changes after adjuvant treatment in Korean women with early breast cancer.
  
  
  METHODS
  The authors reviewed the records of 260 patients with stage I-III breast cancer treated between June 2003 and February 2006. Body weight, body mass index (BMI) and menopausal status at baseline and after 3, 6, 12 and 24 months of adjuvant treatment were reviewed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Mean patient age was 47.0 years and 61.1% of women were premenopausal. Among them, 195 patients (75.8%) received chemotherapy and 186 (71.5%) received hormonal therapy. Mean baseline weight was 57.5 +/- 9.8 kg and mean BMI was 23.5 +/- 1.6 kg/m(2) (22.8 +/- 3.0 vs. 24.7 +/- 3.2 kg/m(2) for pre- vs. post-menopausal women, P = 0.286). Mean weight changes were; 0.30 kg at 3 months (P = 0.019); 0.16 kg at 6 months (P = 0.367); -0.34 kg at 1 year (P = 0.082); -0.40 kg at 2 years (P = 0.097). Twenty-three patients (10.4%) gained more than 5% of baseline body weight at 1 year, but no clinical variable was found to be associated with these weight gains.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study shows that Korean women with early breast cancer do not gain weight after adjuvant treatment. Further studies are needed to determine differences between Asian and Western women in terms of weight changes and prognosis in early breast cancer.
authors: Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, 300 Gumi-dong, Bundang-gu, Seongnam, Gyeonggi, 463-707, Korea.
authors: Hye-Suk
authors: HS
authors: Han
authors: Keun-Wook
authors: KW
authors: Lee
authors: Jee Hyun
authors: JH
authors: Kim
authors: Sung-Won
authors: SW
authors: Kim
authors: In-Ah
authors: IA
authors: Kim
authors: Do-Youn
authors: DY
authors: Oh
authors: Seock-Ah
authors: SA
authors: Im
authors: Soo-Mee
authors: SM
authors: Bang
authors: Jong Seok
authors: JS
authors: Lee
mesh_terms: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy*; D017024:Chemotherapy, Adjuvant; D055088:Early Detection of Cancer; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007723:Korea; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D015430:Weight Gain
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents