Body mass index and survival after cancer diagnosis: A pan-cancer cohort study of 114 430 patients with cancer

Graphical abstract
The recommendation encouraging patients with cancer to keep a normal body mass index (BMI) is largely extrapolated from data on risk of developing cancer. We tested the prospective association between peri-diagnostic (within 1 year post-diagnosis) BMI and all-cause mortality in patients with incident cancers. During 7.2 years of follow-up, 42% (48,340) of the 114 430 patients with cancer died. Spline analysis revealed that compared with a BMI of 22.5, a BMI lower than 22.5 was associated with increased risk of all-cause mortality across 24 cancer types.
