The Impact of Underweight Status on the Prognosis of Ovarian Cancer Patients: A Meta-Analysis

ABSTRACTMalnutrition and underweight status pose an unfavorable prognosis for cancer patients. Several studies have addressed the impact of a low body mass index (BMI) (<18.5 kg/m2) on ovarian cancer progression. However, their results seem to be conflicting. The present meta-analysis investigates whether the underweight status negatively affects the progress of ovarian cancer. We conducted a systematic review searching the Medline (1966–2014), Scopus (2004–2014), Popline (1974–2014), ClinicalTrials.gov (2008–2014), and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) (1999–2014) databases together with reference lists from included studies. All prospective and retrospective observational cohort studies were included. Statistical meta-analysis was performed using the RevMan 5.1 software. Current evidence suggests that the stage of the disease does not differ between underweight and normal-weight patients [odds ratio (OR) 0.80, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.46–1.39 for stage I; OR 1.27, 95% CI 0.7...