Abstract
The impact of being overweight on outcome after hematopoietic SCT (HSCT) is controversial. We performed meta-analyses to evaluate the impact of being overweight on acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD) risk and survival. Original data were obtained from MEDLINE, and studies that evaluated being overweight before transplantation in recipients as a risk factor for aGVHD or a prognostic factor for overall survival (OS) were extracted. Study-specific relative risks on the log scale comparing overweight with non-overweight patients were used to obtain a pooled RR with 95% confidence interval (CI). We identified 8 studies of aGVHD and 21 of OS. In allogeneic HSCT, the meta-analysis determined statistically significant associations of overweight recipients with aGVHD risk and OS. Meta-analysis of the 8 studies of aGVHD indicated that the RR for overweight to non-overweight patients was 1.186 (95% CI: 1.072–1.312). Regarding OS, meta-analysis of 11 allogeneic HSCT studies indicated that the RR for overweight to non-overweight patients was 1.163 (1.009–1.340). Our results indicate that being overweight before transplantation in recipients is associated with a high aGVHD rate and worse survival after allogeneic HSCT. Potential heterogeneity especially in adult/pediatric patients limits the interpretability of our finding. Further, well-designed large cohort studies are warranted.
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Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the Research on Allergic Disease and Immunology (Health and Labor Science Research Grant H23-010), the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare of Japan.
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Nakao, M., Chihara, D., Niimi, A. et al. Impact of being overweight on outcomes of hematopoietic SCT: a meta-analysis. Bone Marrow Transplant 49, 66–72 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/bmt.2013.128
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/bmt.2013.128
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