Nutritional status and prevalence of chemotoxicity in women with breast cancer

Keywords

breast neoplasms - drug-related side effects - nutritional status

Introduction: Breast cancer is one of the leading causes of mortality among women worldwide. Antineoplastic therapy improves survival, but due to its nonspecific cellular effects, patients with this disease experience various adverse effects.

Objective: This study aims to evaluate the prevalence of chemotoxicity in women with breast cancer and analyze factors associated with its development.

Materials and Methods: This was an observational cross-sectional study conducted with adult women diagnosed with breast cancer and treated at the Oncology Nutrition Outpatient Clinic of a University Hospital. Socioeconomic data were collected, and clinical and anthropometric assessments were performed. The data were presented as mean and standard deviation or as percentages. Associations were analyzed using the Chi-Square Test, and p-values less than 0.05 were considered statistically significant. The statistical analyses were performed using SPSS 25.0.

Results: The study included 41 participants with an average age of 59.1 ± 14.0 years. Most patients had advanced disease (Stage 4, 46.3%). The predominant subtypes were Luminal B (29.2%) and triple-negative (24.3%). Based on current BMI, 61% were overweight or obese. Younger women had a higher average BMI compared to older participants (30.15 ± 6.52 vs. 25.34 ± 4.99 kg/m², p = 0.013). Treatment-related toxicity was observed in 51.2% of women. Gastrointestinal toxicity (52.3%) and general adverse effects (61.9%) were common. Younger age was associated with chemotoxicity (52.29 ± 12.25 vs. 66.40 ± 12.25 years, p = 0.001). Younger women had double the risk of chemotoxicity (p = 0.019; V-Cramer = 0.367; RR = 2.1).

Conclusion: A high prevalence of chemotoxicity was observed in women with advanced breast cancer. Overweight and obesity were common in the studied sample. Chemotoxicity was associated with younger age.

Corresponding author: Celia Cohen (e-mail: [e-mail]).