Weight change patterns among breast cancer survivors: Results from the Shanghai breast cancer survival study

In a population-based cohort study of 5,014 women with stage 0-III breast cancer, we evaluated weight change patterns from diagnosis to 6, 18, and 36 months post-diagnosis. Patients were recruited to the study approximately 6 months after cancer diagnosis between 2002 and 2006 and followed through 36 months postdiagnosis. The medians of weight change from diagnosis to 6, 18, and 36 months post-diagnosis were 1.0, 2.0, and 1.0 kg, respectively. Approximately, 26% of survivors gained >5% of their at-diagnosis body weight during the first 6 months after diagnosis, while 37% and 33% of women gained the same percentage of weight at 18 and 36 months post-diagnosis. More weight gain was observed among women who had a more advanced disease stage, were younger, had lower body mass index at diagnosis, were premenopausal, or received chemotherapy or radiotherapy during the first 6 months after cancer diagnosis. Multivariate analyses indicated that age at diagnosis, body size, comorbidity, and disease stage independently predicted weight gain from diagnosis to 36 months postdiagnosis. In summary, weight gain is common over the first 3 years after breast cancer diagnosis among Chinese women. More research is needed to investigate measures to prevent weight gain in breast cancer survivors.