Comparison of muscle and fat wasting in patients suffering from breast and other cancers: an anthropometric study.

An anthropometric study was undertaken to determine muscle and fat areas in 50 cancer patients and 258 control patients suffering from minor conditions, to assess the degree of cachexia in patients with breast cancer, and in patients with other types of cancer. Patients suffering from cancers other than those of the breast showed muscle and fat wasting when compared with matched standard values and when the muscle and fat area measurements were expressed as a percentage of the appropriate mean standard value. Breast cancer patients showed increased muscle and fat area values, irrespective of whether they were in remission, or had progressive disease. This is interesting in view of the strong association between dietary fat intake and breast cancer incidence, and correlates well with present ideas on nutrition and the incidence of breast cancer.