Characteristics and outcome of adult patients with acute promyelocytic leukemia and increased body mass index treated with the PETHEMA Protocols

[Objective] The obesity/overweight may have an influence on APL outcomes.
[Methods] This is the biggest multicentre analysis on 1320 APL patients treated with AIDA‐induction and risk‐adapted consolidation between 1996 and 2012. Patients body mass index (BMI) was classified as underweight (<18.5 kg/m2), normal (18.5‐25 kg/m2), overweight (25‐29.9 kg/m2), and obese (≥30 kg/m2) according to the World Health Organization (WHO) criteria.
[Results and conclusions] Relationship between male gender, older age, and other known laboratory abnormalities in overweight/obese patients was significant. The induction mortality rate was significantly higher in APL with BMI ≥25 vs BMI <25 (10% vs 6%; P = .04). APL patients with BMI ≥25 had a trend to lower OS (74% vs 80%; P = .06). However, in the multivariate analysis, BMI did not retain the independent predictive value (P = .46). There was no higher incidence of differentiation syndrome with BMI ≥25, but there was a trend in obese. There was no difference in relapse rate according to the BMI. In summary, overweight/obesity does not represent an independent risk factor for APL outcomes. The influence of obesity in APL patients treated with chemotherapy‐free regimens remains to be established.