title: Lack of Associations between Body Mass Index and Clinical Outcomes in Patients with Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Obesity is associated with aggressive pathological features and poor clinical outcomes in breast and prostate cancers. In papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC), these relationships remain still controversial. This study aimed to evaluate the associations between body mass index (BMI) and the clinical outcomes of patients with PTC.
  
  
  METHODS
  This retrospective study included 1,189 patients who underwent total thyroidectomy for PTCs equal to or larger than 1 cm in size. Clinical outcomes were evaluated and compared based on the BMI quartiles.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were no significant associations between BMI quartiles and primary tumor size, extrathyroidal invasion, cervical lymph node metastasis, or distant metastasis. However, an increase in mean age was associated with an increased BMI (P for trend <0.001). Multifocality and advanced tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) stage (stage III or IV) were significantly associated with increases of BMI (P for trend 0.02 and <0.001, respectively). However, these associations of multifocality and advanced TNM stage with BMI were not significant in multivariate analyses adjusted for age and gender. Moreover, there were no differences in recurrence-free survivals according to BMI quartiles (P=0.26).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In the present study, BMI was not associated with the aggressive clinicopathological features or recurrence-free survivals in patients with PTC.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Hyemi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kwon
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Mijin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Yun Mi
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Eun Kyung
authors.initials: EK
authors.lastname: Jang
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Min Ji
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Jeon
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Won Gu
authors.initials: WG
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Tae Yong
authors.initials: TY
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Young Kee
authors.initials: YK
authors.lastname: Shong
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Dong Eun
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Jung Hwan
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Baek
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Suck Joon
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. kimwb@amc.seoul.kr.
authors.forename: Won Bae
authors.initials: WB
authors.lastname: Kim
keywords: Obesity; Prognosis; Thyroid neoplasms