Lifestyle impacts NHL prognosis, say Mayo Clinic Researchers

According to a study carried out by researchers chiefly at the Mayo Clinic, lifestyle risk factors that exist prior to receiving a diagnosis of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma can seriously—and negatively—impact prognosis, specifically overall survival. Notably:

-- NHL patients with a history of smoking for 20 years or more have a 76 percent higher risk of death when compared to NHL patients who never smoked.

-- NHL patients with a history of drinking "more than 43 grams of alcohol per week" have a 55 percent higher risk of death when compared to NHL patients who did not drink.

-- NHL patients who are obese (BMI of 30 or higher) have a 32 percent higher risk of death compared to NHL patients who are not obese.

This is the first US study to look at the effects of these risk factors following diagnosis, and it suggests that altering one's lifestyle following diagnosis could favorably impact one's prognosis, although researchers caution that such a suggestion has not been put to the clinical test.

COHORT

This study used information from 1,286 NHL patients from various US states.

PUBLICATIONS

These results were published online in the journal Cancer.

Source: EurekAlert