Evidence map›Paper›PMID 27475805›Full record

ReviewCurrent oncology reports2016

The Obesity Paradox in Cancer: a Review.

Hannah Lennon, Matthew Sperrin, Ellena Badrick, Andrew G Renehan

Abstract readReview
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Review in Current oncology reports, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 357 papers, 9 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
357citing papers in PubMed, 9 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

357 citing papers in PubMed, 9 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Body mass index and cancer survival: a meta-analysis of cohort studies.Clinical & translational oncology : official publication of the Federation of Spanish Oncology Societies and of the National Cancer Institute of Mexico · 2025
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  7. The effect of BMI on survival outcome of breast cancer patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Clinical & translational oncology : official publication of the Federation of Spanish Oncology Societies and of the National Cancer Institute of Mexico · 2025
    Pooled it
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297 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Hannah LennonInstitute of Cancer Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK. Hannah.lennon@manchester.ac.uk.
Matthew SperrinFarr Institute, MRC Health eResearch Centre (HeRC North), University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.
Ellena BadrickInstitute of Cancer Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.
Andrew G RenehanInstitute of Cancer Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.

Funding

Cancer Research UK 17962Cancer Research UK A17962Medical Research Council MC_PC_13042Medical Research Council MR/K006665/1
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

There is a common perception that excess adiposity, commonly approximated by body mass index (BMI), is associated with reduced cancer survival. A number of studies have emerged challenging this by demonstrating that overweight and early obese states are associated with improved survival. This finding is termed the "obesity paradox" and is well recognized in the cardio-metabolic literature but less so in oncology. Here, we summarize the epidemiological findings related to the obesity paradox in cancer. Our review highlights that many observations of the obesity paradox in cancer reflect methodological mechanisms including the crudeness of BMI as an obesity measure, confounding, detection bias, reverse causality, and a specific form of the selection bias, known as collider bias. It is imperative for the oncologist to interpret the observation of the obesity paradox against the above methodological framework and avoid the misinterpretation that being obese might be "good" or "protective" for cancer patients.

Indexed as

AdiposityBody Mass IndexHumansNeoplasmsObesityOverweightRisk FactorsSurvival RateAdiposityBMIBody mass indexCancerCancer survivalEpidemiologyExcess weightMortalityObesityOverweightPrognosis

Identifiers

PMID27475805
PMCPMC4967417

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.