A healthy lifestyle and survival among women with ovarian cancer.
By: Jessy M Hansen, Christina M Nagle, Torukiri I Ibiebele, Peter T Grant, Andreas Obermair, Michael L Friedlander, Anna DeFazio, Penelope M Webb,

Gynaecological Cancers Group, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, Australia.
2020-02-18; doi: 10.1002/ijc.33155
Abstract

Ovarian cancer has a poor survival rate and, understandably, women often want to know whether there is anything they can do to improve their prognosis. Our goal was to investigate the association between a healthy lifestyle pre- and post-diagnosis and survival in a cohort of Australian women with invasive epithelial ovarian cancer. We calculated a healthy lifestyle index (HLI) based on women's self-reported smoking status, height, weight, physical activity, diet and alcohol consumption before diagnosis (n=678) and after completing primary treatment (n=512). Clinical data and vital status for each woman were ascertained through medical records. Cox proportional hazards regression was conducted to calculate hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) for all-cause mortality. There was a suggestive association between a more healthy lifestyle before diagnosis and better survival (HR 0.79, 95%CI: 0.59-1.04), however the association was stronger for lifestyle after diagnosis, with women in the highest tertile having significantly better survival than women in the lowest tertile (HR 0.61, 95%CI: 0.40-0.93; p-trend=0.02). Current smoking, particularly post-diagnosis, was associated with higher mortality (HR 1.68, 95%CI: 1.17-2.42; HR 2.82, 95%CI: 1.29-6.14, for pre- and post-diagnosis smoking respectively), but women who quit after diagnosis had survival outcomes similar to non-smokers (HR 0.99, 95%CI: 0.57-1.72). Higher physical activity after diagnosis was associated with better survival (HR 0.60, 95%CI: 0.39-0.92; p-trend 0.02). A healthy lifestyle after diagnosis, in particular not smoking and being physically active, may help women with ovarian cancer improve their prognosis. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.



This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

PMID:32542708






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