Calculators · Oncology · Formula

Body surface area (Mosteller and DuBois)

Also called BSA, Mosteller formula, DuBois formula, body surface area for chemotherapy

Body surface area in m² by the Mosteller and DuBois formulas, for chemotherapy dosing and indexing.

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Formula and scoring

Mosteller: BSA (m²) = √[height (cm) × weight (kg) ÷ 3600]. DuBois: BSA (m²) = 0.007184 × weight^0.425 × height^0.725.

Exam and ward pearls

  • Mosteller is a square-root formula that can be done on a basic calculator; DuBois uses power terms.

When not to rely on it

  • Neither formula was built for severe obesity or amputees; follow the protocol on whether to use actual or adjusted weight.

Source

  1. Mosteller RD. Simplified calculation of body-surface area. N Engl J Med. 1987;317(17):1098. doi:10.1056/NEJM198710223171717 · PMID 3657876
  2. Du Bois D, Du Bois EF. A formula to estimate the approximate surface area if height and weight be known. 1916. Nutrition. 1989;5(5):303-11. PMID 2520314
  3. Piecuch M, Chylak M, Górski M, et al. Comparison of the effectiveness of body surface area estimation formulas in predicting the risk of death in patients with heart failure. J Clin Med. 2024;13(21):6625 (Table 1: formulas). doi:10.3390/jcm13216625 · PMID 39518764

Formula and cut-offs checked against these sources on 8 Nov 2026. Educational tool for clinicians; it does not replace clinical judgement.

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