title: [Is body mass index a prognostic factor of survival in colonic cancer? A multivariate analysis].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The long-term survival of patients operated on for colonic cancer depends on many factors. Obesity decreases the life expectancy of the general population who suffer from it, but it is not clear whether obesity, measured by the Body Mass Index (BMI), is a prognostic factor of survival for patients operated on for colonic cancer.
  
  
  METHODS
  The patients included in this study had TNM stage I, II y III, and were subjected to elective surgery for cancer of the colon in the Girona University Hospital between 1990 and 2001. The BMI was classified according to the WHO classification. A total of 38 different variables were studied using a bivariate analysis with BMI. A Cox model was subsequently constructed with the most clinically relevant parameters, and with those most strongly associated with survival in the bivariate analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  BMI was not associated with survival in the bivariate analysis. Neither did the multivariate analysis show that BMI was an independent prognostic factor of long-term survival in cancer of the colon without metastasis, but it did show that the TNM stage, ASA score, surgical technique, age at surgery, and the immune cell response were prognostic factors.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The body mass index is not a prognostic factor of the long-term survival of patients with colonic cancer.
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Cirugía General y Digestiva, Hospital Universitario de Getafe, Madrid, Spain. miguel.garcia.oria@gmail.com
authors.forename: Miguel Juan
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Garcia-Oria Serrano
authors.forename: Manel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Armengol Carrasco
authors.forename: Aránzazu
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Caballero Millán
authors.forename: Christine D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Ching
authors.forename: Antoni
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Codina Cazador
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015992:Body Mass Index; D003110:Colonic Neoplasms / Q000150:complications / Q000401:mortality* / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009765:Obesity / Q000150:complications; D011379:Prognosis; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D015996:Survival Rate