ReviewCurrent nutrition reports2019
The Obesity Paradox in Cancer: Epidemiologic Insights and Perspectives.
Review in Current nutrition reports, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 103 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled 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.
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.
Who cites it
103 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Postdiagnosis body fatness, weight change and breast cancer prognosis: Global Cancer Update Program (CUP global) systematic literature review and meta-analysis.International journal of cancer · 2023Pooled it
- Imaging-based adipose biomarkers for predicting clinical outcomes of cancer patients treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors: a systematic review.Frontiers in oncology · 2023Pooled it
- Association between metabolically healthy obesity and metastasis in lung cancer patients - a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2023Pooled it
- Adiposity and cancer survival: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Cancer causes & control : CCC · 2022Pooled it
- Associations of fat and muscle mass with overall survival in men with prostate cancer: a systematic review with meta-analysis.Prostate cancer and prostatic diseases · 2022Pooled it
- Letter to the editor regarding: 'The impact of body mass index on the efficacy of CDK4/6 inhibitors in patients with metastatic breast cancer'.Annals of medicine · 2026Article
- Combined Impact of Sarcopenia and Low Visceral Adiposity on Postoperative Outcomes and Survival After Esophagectomy for Esophageal Cancer.Annals of surgical oncology · 2026Article
- Body Mass Index at Diagnosis, Prediagnostic Weight Loss, and Survival in Colorectal Cancer.JAMA network open · 2026Article
- Survival Outcomes of Patients With Colorectal Cancer After Primary Surgery: A Population-Based Study in Hainan, China.Cancer medicine · 2026Article
- Association of obesity and nutritional status on early sepsis-associated acute kidney injury in older patients with sepsis.BMC nephrology · 2026Article
- Subcutaneous adipose tissue outperforms muscle strength as an indicator of survival and quality of life in patients with cancer: a multicenter cohort study.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2026Observational
- Body composition predicts poor outcomes and reveals immunometabolic dysfunction via single-cell profiling in anti-BCMA CAR T-treated myeloma.HemaSphere · 2026Article
- Reassessing prognostic markers in metastatic renal cell carcinoma in the era of immune checkpoint inhibitors: the enduring value of body composition, nutritional, and inflammatory indices.International journal of clinical oncology · 2026Article
- Racial/ethnic and sex disparities in mortality among US cancer survivors.Journal of cancer research and clinical oncology · 2026Article
- Body mass index-based inflammation index is a promising prognostic predictor in older adult cancer patients.BMC geriatrics · 2026Article
- Longitudinal trajectories of physical fitness in Chinese college students: a multi-group latent growth curve analysis.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- From metabolic syndrome to survival: a prognostic model for PDAC incorporating insulin resistance markers and pathological variables.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2026Article
- Review
- Article
- Life Factors and Melanoma: From the Macroscopic State to the Molecular Mechanism.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2025Review
43 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purpose of reviewControversy exists whether excess body fatness (measured by body mass index (BMI)) is associated with better cancer survival ("obesity paradox"). Here, we review the obesity paradox in cancer research and discuss potential explanations and future research directions. RECENT
findingsOverweight and obese cancer patients have better survival for diverse cancers. This apparent obesity paradox may be largely explained by methodological limitations including reverse causation, selection bias, confounding, and reliance of BMI as a measure of adiposity in cancer patients. A growing number of studies show promising evidence that precisely quantified body composition can provide important prognostic information in cancer care, such that low muscle and high adiposity are associated with worse clinical outcomes in cancer patients. The term obesity paradox in cancer, implying a causally beneficial role of adiposity, is misleading. Understanding the role of muscle and adiposity may reduce the confusion and inform precision oncology care.
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Identifiers
31129887What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.