1Mathers C, Fat DM, Boerma J (2008) The global burden of disease: 2004 update. World Health Organization.

2Howlader N, Noone A, Krapcho M, et al. (2012) SEER cancer statistics review, 1975–2009 (vintage 2009 populations). Bethesda, MD: National Cancer Institute

3Smigal C, Jemal A, Ward E, Cokkinides V, Smith R, et al. (2006) Trends in breast cancer by race and ethnicity: Update 2006. CA: a cancer journal for clinicians 56:168-183.

4Bradley CJ, Given CW, Roberts C (2002) Race, socioeconomic status, and breast cancer treatment and survival. J Natl Cancer Inst 94: 490-496.

5Goodwin PJ, Ennis M, Pritchard KI, Trudeau ME, Koo J, et al. (2002) Fasting insulin and outcome in early-stage breast cancer: Results of a prospective cohort study. Journal of Clinical Oncology 20: 42-51.

6Key TJ, Appleby PN, Reeves GK, Roddam A, Longcope C, et al. ( 2003) Body mass index, serum sex hormones, and breast cancer risk in postmenopausal women. J Natl Cancer Inst 95: 1218.

7Berclaz G, Li S, Price KN, Coates AS, Castiglione-Gertsch M, et al. (2004) Body mass index as a prognostic feature in operable breast cancer: The international breast cancer study group experience. Annals of Oncology 15: 875-884.

8Kroenke CH, Chen WY, Rosner B, Holmes MD (2005) Weight, weight gain, and survival after breast cancer diagnosis. Journal of Clinical Oncology 23: 1370-1378.

9 Majed B, Moreau T, Senouci K, Salmon RJ, Fourquet A, et al. 2008) Is obesity an independent prognosis factor in woman breast cancer? Breast Cancer Res Treat 111: 329-342.

10Caan BJ, Kwan ML, Hartzell G, Castillo A, Slattery ML, et al. (2008) Pre-diagnosis body mass index, post-diagnosis weight change, and prognosis among women with early stage breast cancer. Cancer Causes & Control 19: 1319-1328.

11Ewertz M1, Jensen MB, Gunnarsdóttir KÁ, Højris I, Jakobsen EH, et al. (2011) Effect of obesity on prognosis after early-stage breast cancer. Journal of clinical oncology 29: 25-31.

12Protani M, Coory M, Martin JH (2010) Effect of obesity on survival of women with breast cancer: Systematic review and meta-analysis. Breast Cancer Res Treat 123: 627-635.

13 Ligibel JA, Goodwin PJ (2012 ) NEW and RENEW: Building the case for weight loss in breast cancer. Journal of Clinical Oncology 302294-2296.

14Chen S, Chen C, Zhou Y, Zhou R, Yu K, et al. (2012) Obesity or overweight is associated with worse pathological response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy among chinese women with breast cancer. PloS one 7: e41380.

15Suzuki R, Saji S, Toi M (2012) Impact of body mass index on breast cancer in accordance with the life-stage of women. Frontiers in oncology 2:123.

16Moon H, Han W, Noh D ( 2009) Underweight and breast cancer recurrence and death: A report from the korean breast cancer society. Journal of Clinical Oncology. 27: 5899-5905.

17Lahmann PH, Hoffmann K, Allen N, van Gils CH, Khaw KT, et al. (2004) Body size and breast cancer risk: Findings from the european prospective investigation into cancer and nutrition (EPIC). International journal of cancer 111: 762-771.

18Huang Z, Hankinson SE, Colditz GA, Stampfer MJ, Hunter DJ, et al. (1997) Dual effects of weight and weight gain on breast cancer risk. JAMA: the journal of the American Medical Association 278: 1407-1411

19The AHRQ multiple chronic conditions research network: Project summary.

20Elixhauser A, Steiner C, Harris DR, Coffey RM (1998) Comorbidity measures for use with administrative data. Med Care 36: 8-27.

21 Kay R (1986) Treatment effects in competing-risks analysis of prostate cancer data. Biometrics.:203-211.

22Kalbfleisch JD, Prentice RL (2011) The statistical analysis of failure time data. Vol 360. John Wiley & Sons.

23Caan BJ, Kwan ML, Shu XO, Pierce JP, Patterson RE et al. ( 2012) Weight change and survival after breast cancer in the after breast cancer pooling project. Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention 21: 1260-1271.

24Curtis JP, Selter JG, Wang Y, Rathore SS, Jovin IS, et al. (2005) The obesity paradox: Body mass index and outcomes in patients with heart failure. Arch Intern Med 165:55-61.

25Uretsky S, Messerli FH, Bangalore S, Champion A, Cooper-Dehoff RM, et al.(2007) Obesity paradox in patients with hypertension and coronary artery disease. Am J Med 120 : 863- 867.

26Lavie CJ, Milani RV, Ventura HO. (2009) Obesity and cardiovascular DiseaseRisk factor, paradox, and impact of weight loss. J Am CollCardiol. 53: 1925-1932.

27(2000) Obesity: Preventing and managing the global epidemic. World Health Organ Tech Rep 894: 1-253.

28Dawood S1, Broglio K, Gonzalez-Angulo AM, Kau SW, Islam R, et al. (2008) Prognostic value of body mass index in locally advanced breast cancer. Clinical Cancer Research 14: 1718-1725.

29Clegg LX, Li FP, Hankey BF, Chu K, Edwards BK (2002) Cancer survival among US whites and minorities: A SEER (surveillance, epidemiology, and end results) program population-based study. Arch Intern Med.;162: 1985-1993.