THE INFLUENCE OF NEOADJUVANT CHEMOTHERAPY ON WEIGHT GAIN IN WOMEN SURVIVORS FROM BREAST CANCER

Background: Neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NTC) is an oncological treatment provided prior to surgery. Typically, it is administered for inflammatory and locally advanced tumors, allowing a surgical approach with greater breast tissue preservation. This research aimed to determine the weight profile of women breast cancer survivors during and after NTC treatment and to determine if there were differences in the weight change compared to patients who did not undergo this treatment. Methods: This is a cross-sectional observational study in patients diagnosed with breast cancer. Inclusion criteria were female participants aged 18 to 65 years diagnosed with breast cancer. Patients with type II diabetes, cognitive impairment, functional constraints that hindered assessment, and remote metastasis were excluded. Patients were divided into two groups: those receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy and those not receiving this treatment (control). The instruments used were the International Physical Activity Questionnaire, Waist-Hip Ratio, and body mass index. Results: Sixty women diagnosed with breast cancer were evaluated. There was no significant difference in weight (p = 0.578), body mass index (p = 0.578), waist circumference (p = 0.423), hip circumference (p = 0.176), waist-hip ratio (p = 0.904) after one month of surgery. The patients who underwent neoadjuvant chemotherapy treatment did not lose weight. Conclusions: It was not possible to observe a significant difference between the groups that underwent neoadjuvant chemotherapy and the group that did not, after one month of surgery as to weight, body mass index, waist circumference, hip circumference, and waist-hip ratio. It was not possible to observe weight loss during neoadjuvant chemotherapy treatment. The findings indicate that the use of NTC has no effect on the weight, body mass index, waist circumference, hip circumference, or waist-hip ratio of women breast cancer survivor, during and after surgical treatments. There is a need for more studies with extended durations and larger sample size.