Prognostic Value of Preoperative Body Mass Index for Diabetic Patients with Non-metastasis Gastric Cancer: A Single Center Experience

Abstract AIM: This study was designed to investigate the prognostic effect of preoperative body mass index (BMI) for Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients with non-metastasis gastric cancer (GC) who underwent D2 gastrectomy.METHODS：T2DM patients with pT1-4bN0-3bM0 GC were retrospectively collected in our cancer center from January, 2000 to December, 2010. Chi-square test was used to analyze unordered categorical variables and ranked data, followed by Kaplan-Meier analysis as well as Cox regression models to detect risk factors for survival outcomes. In addition, the cut-off point was determined by the X-tile program. All analyses were carried out using survival package of R and SPSS Software. RESULTS： A total of 302 T2DM patients with pT1-4bN0-3bM0 GC were collected and analyzed. The cut-off point of BMI, identified by the X-tile program, was 19 kg/m2. Patients with low BMI (< 19 kg/m2) had a higher percentage of advanced T stage (T4a and T4b), more advanced TNM stage(stage IIIA, IIIB and IIIC), and more elevated level of serum carcinoembryonic antigen(CEA), compared to those with high BMI(>19 kg/m2)(all P < 0.05). In the low BMI subgroup, the 5-year overall survival rate was 39.02%, which was as high as 58.11% in the high BMI subgroup (P < 0.05). In the multivariate Cox regression model revealed that IIIC stage (OR= 3.101), N3b stage (OR= 3.113) were the most important prognostic indicators, followed by pretreatment BMI (OR= 2.136). CONCLUSION: Low preoperative BMI (<19 kg/m2) was a poor prognostic marker for T2DM patients with pT1-4bN0-3bM0 GC.