Importance Obesity is associated with a higher risk of recurrence, mortality, comorbidities, treatment-related adverse effects, and poor quality of life in patients with breast cancer. Scalable interventions are needed to promote weight loss in this population. Objective To evaluate the impact of a remotely delivered weight loss intervention (WLI) on weight change at 1 year in patients with breast cancer and obesity and to explore factors associated with weight change. Design, Setting, and Participants The Breast Cancer Weight Loss trial is a phase 3, randomized clinical trial evaluating the impact of a telephone-based WLI on invasive disease–free survival and other outcomes in women with obesity and early breast cancer at 637 sites across the US and Canada. Participants were enrolled to the study between August 2016 and February 2021. Participants included women with stage II to III, ERBB2 -negative breast cancer and a body mass index (BMI) of 27 or higher. Interventions Participants were randomized to a 2-year, telephone-based WLI plus health education or health education alone control group. Main Outcome and Measures The primary end point for this prespecified secondary analysis was weight change at 1 year. Weight was measured at baseline and 1 year, and changes in weight were compared between groups. Weight change was evaluated with a linear mixed-effects model including treatment group, weight over time, a time-by-group interaction, menopausal status, race and ethnicity, and hormone receptor status. Results A total of 3180 women with breast cancer and BMI of 27 and higher were included in the study; 1591 were randomized to the WLI and 1589 to the control group. At baseline, the mean (SD) age of participants was 53.4 (10.6), and the mean (SD) BMI was 34.4 (5.6). The racial and ethnic breakdown included 406 (12.8%) Black, 231 (7.3%) Hispanic or Latino, 2906 (91.4%) non-Hispanic, and 2555 (80.3%) White participants. WLI participants lost a mean of 4.3 kg (95% CI 3.9-4.6 kg), or 4.7% (95% CI, 4.3%-5.0%) of baseline body weight at 1 year vs control participants, who gained 0.9 kg (95% CI, 0.5-1.3 kg), or 1.0% (95% CI 0.1%-1.4%) of baseline body weight ( P < .001). Participants randomized to WLI experienced significant weight loss (vs control group participants) across demographic and tumor factors. WLI effect differed significantly by menopausal status, with postmenopausal participants having greater weight loss than premenopausal participants, and by race and ethnicity, with Black and Hispanic participants having less weight loss compared to other races and ethnicities. Conclusions and Relevance In this secondary analysis of a randomized clinical trial, a telephone-based WLI induced significant weight loss in patients with breast cancer with overweight and obesity across demographic and treatment factors. Further follow-up of the Breast Cancer Weight Loss trial will evaluate whether the WLI improves disease outcomes. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02750826
Intervention adherence, engagement and tool utilization in the breast cancer weight loss (BWEL) trial by race and ethnicity (Alliance A011401).
1586 Background: Black and Hispanic breast cancer (BC) survivors have a higher prevalence of obesity and experience less success with weight loss interventions (WLI) than White BC survivors. The BWEL trial (Alliance A011401; NCT02750826) is a phase III randomized trial evaluating the impact of a 2-year telephone-based WLI on invasive disease-free survival in participants (pts) with stage II-III HER2-negative BC and a BMI ≥ 27 kg/m 2 . At 12-months, the WLI induced significant weight loss across demographic factors, including race and ethnicity. However, Black and Hispanic pts lost less weight and completed fewer calls than White pts. Here, we evaluate intervention adherence, engagement and tool utilization in BWEL pts by race and ethnicity. Methods: BWEL randomized pts to a WLI plus health education (HE) or HE alone. WLI pts received semi-structured telephone-based health coaching, delivered in English or Spanish, and received an activity monitor and wireless scale. Pts self-reported race and ethnicity. Mean values for call duration, call density (time to complete the initial 12-week intensive intervention phase), intervention attrition, and frequency of Fitbit use and weight tracking over 12-months were compared by race and ethnicity, comparing least squares means with Tukey-Kramer adjustment for multiple comparisons with adjusted p-values. Results: Of 3181 pts randomized to the study between 08/2016 and 02/2021, 1591 pts were allocated to the WLI arm. 80.5% of pts were White, 12.8% Black, and 7.1% Hispanic. Average BMI was 34.5 (±5.7) kg/m2. Compared to White pts, Black pts had fewer days of Fitbit usage (113.6 vs. 159.8, p<0.0001) and weight tracking (77.9 vs. 135.6 days, p< 0.0001). Hispanic pts had fewer days of Fitbit usage (108.8 vs. 154.9, p= 0.001) and weight tracking (87 vs. 129.5 days, p=0.0002) compared to non-Hispanic pts. There were no differences in attrition rate, average call duration, or call density by race or ethnicity. Conclusions: In a phase III WLI trial, engagement with tools designed to support weight loss was significantly lower in Black and Hispanic pts. Future work is needed to explore ways to enhance engagement and improve weight loss outcomes for racial and ethnic minority pts. Support: U10CA180821, U10CA180882, UG1CA189823; https://acknowledgments.alliancefound.org . Clinical trial information: NCT02750826 . Measure of engagement Race Ethnicity WhiteN=1281 BlackN=204 p-value Non-HispanicN=1459 HispanicN=113 p-value Withdrew from intervention n (%) 58 (4.5%) 13 (6.4%) 0.56 70 (4.8%) 6 (5.3%) 0.51 Call Duration (min)Mean (SD) 34.5 (7.6) 34.6 (9.1) 0.99 34.6 (7.8) 33.3 (7.9) 0.25 Call density(weeks)Mean (SD) 14.2 (7.2) 14.2 (8.8) 0.99 14.2 (7.3) 14.2 (9.7) 0.99 Days of Fitbit UseMean (SD) 159.8 (132.2) 113.6 (124.7) < 0.0001 154.9 (131.8) 108.8 (125.7) 0.001 Days of weight trackingMean (SD) 135.6 (109.5) 77.9 (87.5) < 0.0001 129.5 (108.8) 87 (96.5) 0.0002