Body mass index and adiposity influence responses to immune checkpoint inhibition in endometrial cancer

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Abstract

BACKGROUND Obesity is the foremost risk factor in the development of endometrial cancer (EC). However, the impact of obesity on the response to immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) in EC remains poorly understood. This retrospective study investigates the association among BMI, body fat distribution, and clinical and molecular characteristics of EC patients treated with ICI.METHODS We analyzed progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) in EC patients treated with ICI, categorized by BMI, fat-mass distribution, and molecular subtypes. Incidence of immune-related adverse events (irAEs) after ICI was also assessed based on BMI status.RESULTS 524 EC patients were included in the study. Overweight and obese patients exhibited a significantly prolonged PFS and OS compared with normal BMI patients after treatment with ICI. Multivariable Cox’s regression analysis confirmed the independent association of overweight and obesity with improved PFS and OS. Elevated visceral adipose tissue (VAT) was identified as a strong independent predictor for improved PFS to ICI. Associations between obesity and OS/PFS were particularly significant in the copy number–high/TP53abnormal (CN-H/TP53abn) EC molecular subtype. Finally, obese patients demonstrated a higher irAE rate compared with normal BMI individuals.CONCLUSION Obesity is associated with improved outcomes to ICI in EC patients and a higher rate of irAEs. This association is more pronounced in the CN-H/TP53abn EC molecular subtype.FUNDING NIH/NCI Cancer Center; MSK Gerstner Physician Scholars Program; National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS); Cycle for Survival; Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

Authors

Nicolás Gómez-Banoy, Eduardo J. Ortiz, Caroline S. Jiang, Christian Dagher, Carlo Sevilla, Jeffrey Girshman, Andrew M. Pagano, Andrew J. Plodkowski, William A. Zammarrelli, Jennifer J. Mueller, Carol Aghajanian, Britta Weigelt, Vicky Makker, Paul Cohen, Juan C. Osorio