Dana-Farber Cancer Institute's Dr. Jennifer Ligibel shared updated results from the BWEL study showing a weight loss intervention led to significantly better physical function, global physical and mental health, and symptom in patients with early breast cancer.
Obesity is linked to poor outcomes in women with early breast cancer. Women with obesity, when they're diagnosed with breast cancer, have a higher risk of cancer recurrence, cancer-related mortality. Obesity is also linked to poor quality of life in women with early breast cancer. In particular, it has been linked to worse physical function, women's ability to function in their daily lives, to function in the workplace. It's also been linked to higher risk of anxiety and depression. The breast cancer weight loss trial is a phase 3 randomized trial that was designed to look at the impact of a telephone-based weight loss intervention on disease recurrence and mortality in women with early breast cancer. At this year's ASCO annual meeting, we are presenting some of the first data looking at the impact of the BW weight loss intervention on physical function and other quality of life metrics. The study looked at a predefined subgroup of BWAL participants, uh 552 people who joined the study in the first years of its enrollment, and looked serially over time at how the weight loss intervention impacted their physical function, their physical and mental well-being, and other quality of life metrics. The study demonstrated that the weight loss intervention, Strongly improved physical functioning in the BWEL participants. It also had a positive impact on overall physical and mental health, on social and role functioning, and on fatigue. The other thing that we found in the study was that these benefits, especially for physical function and overall quality of life, were maintained through the two-year duration of the weight loss intervention. Over the next years, we will continue to follow the BWE participants to evaluate whether the weight loss intervention leads to improvements in not only quality of life, but also survival in patients with early breast cancer.
