A history of cancer continues to exert long-term adverse effects on body composition, characterized primarily by abnormal fat accumulation, and cancer survivors with both a low lean mass index and a high fat mass index had the highest mortality risk.
Key Findings
Results
Cancer survivors with a history exceeding 10 years were significantly older and had a higher proportion of females compared to those without cancer history before propensity score matching.
Before matching, 13,213 patients were included: 391 cancer survivors with cancer history exceeding 10 years and 12,822 individuals with no prior cancer diagnosis.
Cancer survivors were significantly older (67 years vs. 45 years, P < 0.001).
Cancer survivors had a higher proportion of females (62.4% vs. 48.6%, P < 0.001).
Data were drawn from NHANES spanning 1999–2006.
Results
After propensity score matching, cancer survivors exhibited significantly higher fat mass and fat mass proportion compared to non-cancer history individuals.
Propensity score matching was employed to minimize baseline differences and enhance comparability between groups.
Cancer survivors had significantly higher fat mass (27.03 kg vs. 20.44 kg, P < 0.001).
Cancer survivors had a significantly higher fat mass proportion (36.3% vs. 30.8%, P < 0.001).
After matching, key baseline characteristics were well-balanced between the two groups with no significant differences observed.
Results
Lean mass was also higher in cancer survivors after propensity score matching, but a low lean mass index was associated with shorter survival.
Cancer survivors showed significantly higher lean mass (45.88 kg vs. 41.27 kg, P < 0.001).
A low lean mass index was associated with shorter survival (P = 0.021) based on Kaplan-Meier survival analysis.
Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was conducted to evaluate the impact of lean mass and fat mass on overall mortality.
Results
Cancer survivors with both a low lean mass index and a high fat mass index had the highest mortality risk.
This combination of low lean mass index and high fat mass index represented the highest mortality risk among the groups examined.
The finding highlights the compounding adverse effect of concurrent muscle depletion and fat accumulation in cancer survivors.
This finding was based on matched data from cancer survivors with a history of cancer exceeding 10 years.
Wu Y, Wang C, Zhang Y, Wei H. (2026). The association between cancer history and long-term body composition based on a 10-year follow-up.. Clinical nutrition ESPEN. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clnesp.2026.102935