Association between body mass index and immune‐related adverse events (IrAEs) among advanced‐stage cancer patients receiving immune checkpoint inhibitors: A pan‐cancer analysis Journal Article


Authors: Zhang, D.; Shah, N. J.; Cook, M.; Blackburn, M.; Serzan, M. T.; Advani, S.; Potosky, A. L.; Madhavan, S.; Belouali, A.; Atkins, M. B.; Braithwaite, D.
Article Title: Association between body mass index and immune‐related adverse events (IrAEs) among advanced‐stage cancer patients receiving immune checkpoint inhibitors: A pan‐cancer analysis
Abstract: Evidence regarding the association between body mass index (BMI) and immune‐related adverse events (irAEs) among cancer patients receiving immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) is limited. Here, we use cross‐sectional hospital‐based data to explore their relationship. Pre‐treatment BMI was treated as an ordinal variable (<25, 25 to ≤ 30, ≥30 kg/m2). The outcome of interest was irAEs after ICI initiation. A multivariable logistic regression model estimated the adjusted odds ratio (aOR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) of BMI. A total of 684 patients with stage III or IV cancer were included in the study (lung: 269, melanoma: 204, other: 211). The mean age at the first dose of ICI was 64.1 years (SD = 13.5), 394 patients (57.6%) were male, and over one‐third (N = 260, 38.0%) were non‐White. Overall, 52.9% of patients had BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2 (25 to ≤ 30: 217, ≥30: 145) and 288 (42.1%) had irAEs after ICI treatment. Patients with higher BMI tended to have a higher rate of irAEs (<25: 35.7%, 25 to ≤ 30: 47.0%, ≥30: 49.0%). The multivariable logistic regression yielded consistent results (BMI ≥ 30 vs. BMI < 25: aOR = 1.47, 95% CI = 0.96–2.23; 25 ≤ BMI < 30 vs. BMI < 25: aOR = 1.46, 95% CI = 1.02–2.11, p‐trend = 0.04). In conclusion, among patients with advanced cancer receiving ICIs, the rate of irAEs appears to be higher among those with higher BMI. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
Keywords: body mass index; epidemiology; immune checkpoint inhibitor; immune‐related adverse events
Journal Title: Cancers
Volume: 13
Issue: 23
ISSN: 2072-6694
Publisher: MDPI  
Date Published: 2021-12-01
Start Page: 6109
Language: English
DOI: 10.3390/cancers13236109
PROVIDER: scopus
PMCID: PMC8657283
PUBMED: 34885219
DOI/URL:
Notes: Erratum issued, see DOI: 10.3390/cancers14184525; The authors Subha Madhavan and Anas Belouali were initially not included as authors in the PDF, the original work has been adjusted and includes them -- Source: Scopus
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  1. Neil Jayendra Shah
    91 Shah