HIGH BODY MASS INDEX AMONG PATIENTS UNDERGOING HEMATOPOIETIC STEM CELL TRANSPLANTATION: RESULTS OF A CROSS-SECTIONAL EVALUATION OF NUTRITIONAL STATUS IN A PRIVATE HOSPITAL.

Background: nutritional status before hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) affects prognosis: better nourished patients have shorter time to engraftment, while malnutrition is associated with increase of mortality rates, complications, medical costs, poor quality of life and hospitalization stay. Furthermore, underweight patients have increased risk of death in the early post- HSCT period, and non-relapse mortality is greater for those who are extremely underweight, overweight and obese. Obesity is associated with treatment-related toxicity, higher incidence of grade II-IV acute graft-versus- host disease (GVHD), infections and mortality.