Weight gain following breast cancer diagnosis: Implication and proposed mechanisms

Table 1 Overview of studies describing weight gain in women following a diagnosis of breast cancer

Ref.	Patient numbers	Average weight gain	Study type	Comment
Levine et al[22], 1991	32	6.03 kg at 2 yr	Prospective	63% of women receiving chemotherapy gained weight
Goodwin et al[23], 1999	535	1.6 kg at 1 yr 2.5 kg at 1 yr with chemo	Prospective	Weight gain associated with chemotherapy and onset of menopause
Demark-Wahnefried et al[31], 2001	53	1 kg local rx at 1 yr 2.1 kg at 1 yr with chemo	Prospective	Study group premenopausal only Weight gain associated with chemotherapy Change in body composition (sarcopenic obesity)
Makari-Judson et al[8], 2007	185	2.2 kg at 1 yr	Retrospective	Weight gain associated with chemotherapy Younger women closer to ideal BMI gained most Most received anthracycline chemotherapy
Saquib et al[25], 2007	3088	Measured as relative weight gain > 5% on 65% of chemotherapy recipients	Prospective	Weight gain associated with chemotherapy Both anthracycline and non- anthracycline treatments similar Younger, closer to ideal BMI more likely to gain
Heideman et al[26], 2009	271	2 kg at one year	Retrospective	Weight gain associated with chemotherapy and hormone therapy
Gu et al[16], 2010	5014	2 kg at 18 mo	Prospective	Stage 0-III Weight gain associated with chemotherapy and younger, lower BMI, premenopausal women
Tredan et al[15], 2010	272	3.9 kg at 1 yr	Prospective	All participants received chemotherapy Anthracycline 41%, anthracycline and taxane 58% Gained weight despite dietary counseling
Basaran et al[24], 2011	176	3 kg at 1 yr	Prospective	Weight gain associated with chemotherapy Anthracycline/taxane chemotherapy
Chen et al[17], 2011	4561	1.7 kg dx to 18 mo	Retrospective	Stage 0-IV, patient reported weights, Association of weight gain with younger age, premenopausal, and higher stage. Obese more likely to lose weight
Nissen et al[27], 2011	49	1.95 kg at 1 yr	Prospective	All participants received chemotherapy Weight gain associated with being closer to ideal BMI Overweight/obese women lost weight
Yaw et al[18], 2011	368	2.73 kg reported at study entry (treatment completion)	Retrospective	Patient reported weight gain one year prior to diagnosis and at study entry

BMI: Body mass index.