Estado nutricional en pacientes adultas mayores con cáncer de mama. Hospital General Universitario "V. I. Lenin", 2004-2008: "V. I. Lenin" University General Hospital, 2004-2008

introduction: the breast cancer in elderly patient is a health problem. it is important to know the risk factors for their control including the nutritional status expressed in the body mass index (bmi). methods: an observational and descriptive study was conducted in 268 elderly patients with breast cancer diagnosed and stayed in the mastology service of the "v. i. lenin" university and general hospital from january, 2004 to december, 2008. in each patient the bmi was estimated to determine its nutritional status. results: from the total of patients, 101 (37.7 %) had a bmi normal, 99 were classified as excess weight and obeses and 53 cases for the 36.9 and the 19.8 %, respectively; whereas 15 of them were located in the undernourished category. there was not a significant relation between the nutritional status and the clinical stage. conclusions: obesity is a risk factor for the breast cancer in elderly. the medical assessment of obese patients allows taking actions of screening directed to the early diagnosis of this disease.