To the Editor: Dr Meyerhardt and colleagues1 presented data from the Cancer and Leukemia Group B (CALGB) chemotherapy trial (CALGB 89803) indicating that dietary patterns were associated with differences in recurrence and survival in patients with colon cancer. Body mass, a rough integration of diet and activity, is a simpler end point to measure and is associated with increased incidence of colorectal adenomas and cancer.2 - 3 Body mass index (BMI; calculated as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared) is also associated with prognosis after adjuvant treatment.4
Tumor biology and BMI, although linked, have a more complex relationship. Surgical resection of colon cancer and identification of pertinent mesenteric nodal spread and consequently accurate staging is dependent on BMI.5
It would therefore be helpful if the authors were able to analyze BMI as a predictor of disease-free survival and to provide BMI data according to stage and nodal numbers and involvement.
Financial Disclosures: None reported.
Country-Specific Mortality and Growth Failure in Infancy and Yound Children and Association With Material Stature
Use interactive graphics and maps to view and sort country-specific infant and early dhildhood mortality and growth failure data and their association with maternal
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