Prognostic Significance of Being Overweight and Obese at Diagnosis in Children With Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

Abstract

This study tested the hypothesis that being overweight/obese at diagnosis of childhood ALL was related to risk of relapse. In a national cohort of 1033 patients from the UK, there was no evidence that weight status at diagnosis was related significantly to risk of relapse: log-rank test (P=0.90) with overweight and obesity as the exposure (n=917); individual (P=0.42) and stepwise (P=0.96) proportional hazards models, with BMI Z score as the exposure. The study does not support the hypothesis that being overweight/obese at diagnosis impairs prognosis in childhood ALL in the UK.