Excessive Annual BMI Increase After Chemotherapy Among Young Survivors of Testicular Cancer

Investigators from the Norwegian Radium Hospital and University of Oslo, both in Oslo, have found that survivors of testicular cancer had an excessive increase in body mass index.

The study involved 444 unilaterally orchietomied testicular cancer survivors treated between 1980 and 1990. A comparison was made to age-matched men from the general population using population surveys taken between 1985 and 1996.

The results found that survivors of testicular cancer had a lower pre-treatment mean BMI than controls. Post-treatment the BMI for testicular cancer survivors and the control was similar. However the annual BMI increase in testicular cancer survivors far exceeded that of the controls.

(Source: British Journal of Cancer, 2003; 88:1:36-41)