The prevalence and impact of overweight and hypertension among patients with pancreatic cancer

Introduction. Pancreatic cancer (PC) remains one of the most deadly malignancies with rising incidence. As therapeutical options seem unsatisfactory, great effort should be put into identifying and reducing risk factors as well as distinguishing possible factors influencing patient outcomes. The study aimed to describe the prevalence of overweight and hypertension among PC patients, analyse the possible association between overweight, hypertension and clinicopathological factors and distinguish variables influencing survival. Material and methods. A retrospective analysis of medical records was performed. The study was designed in two branches: (1) the comparison of patients with hypertension (HTN group) and without; (2) the comparison of patients with BMI ≥ 25 and patients with BMI < 25. Statistical analysis with the usage of appropriate tests was conducted. Results. No differences in survival between studied groups in the two branches were determined, even after subdividing into adjuvant and palliative types of treatment. Patients with HTN were more likely to be older, have diabetes and be diagnosed without distant metastases. BMI, ACEIs/ARBs use, diabetes, CRP/lymphocyte ratio (CLR) and AJCC IIb stage influenced survival. Patients with overweight/obesity were more likely to have an autoimmune disease, metastases in ≥ 4 lymph nodes (N2), tumour size between 2 and 4 cm (T2) and experience neutropenia as side effect of palliative chemotherapy. Higher BMI and CRP level influenced survival. Conclusions. The exact effect of ACEIs/ARBs on cancerogenesis should be further studied. CLR appears to be a feasible marker for prognosis in PC.