Population-based analysis of survival impact of obesity among patients receiving immune checkpoint inhibitors for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma

For patients treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), recent data suggest that obesity has a beneficial effect on survival outcomes in various cancer types. A retrospective population-based patient database analysis investigated the survival impact of patients receiving ICIs for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.The analysis included two groups of 83 patients each with BMI 20-24.9 (normal BMI) and BMI ≥ 30 (obesity), respectively, after propensity score matching for pretreatment comorbidities and oncologic staging. Obesity was associated with significantly improved OS at 6 months (HR 0.54; 95% CI 0.31-0.96), 3 years (0.56; 0.38-0.83), and 5 years (0.62; 0.44-0.86). Obesity was also associated with decreased risk of gastrostomy tube dependence and traceostomy dependence. There were no differences between the groups in rates of dysphagia or immune-related adverse events. The authors conclude that these results suggest that obesity is associated with improved survival and functional outcomes for patients receiving ICIs for HNSCC.