Decoding the Effect of Body Mass Index on Breast Cancer Clinical data reveals new link between body weight and breast cancer survival Getty Images May 13, 2021 — Medical researchers at Flinders University have established a new link between high body mass index (BMI) and breast cancer survival rates — with clinical data revealing worse outcomes for early breast cancer (EBC) patients and improved survival rates in advanced breast cancer (ABC). In a new study published in a top breast cancer journal, researchers evaluated data from 5 thousand patients with EBC and 3,496 with ABC to determine associations between BMI and survival rates across both stages.