Serum Adiponectin but not Leptin at Diagnosis as a Predictor of Breast Cancer Survival

Abstract

Limited numbers of epidemiological studies have examined the relationship between adipokines and breast cancer survival. Preoperative serum levels of obesity-related adipokines (leptin and adiponectin) were here measured in 370 breast cancer patients, recruited from two hospitals in Korea. We examined the association between those adipokines and disease-free survival (DFS). The TNM stage, ER status and histological grade were aslo assessed in relation to breast cancer survival. Elevated adiponectin levels were associated with reduced DFS of breast cancer (P trend =0.03) among patients with normal body weight, predominantly in postmenopausal women. There was no association of leptin with breast cancer survival. In conclusion, our study suggests that high levels of adiponectin at diagnosis are associated with breast cancer survival among women with normal body weight.Keywords: Breast cancer -leptin and adiponectin level at diagnosis -prognosis -serum biomarker

Adiponectin is associated with poor prognosis in carcinoma patients: evidence from a meta-analysis

“…For example, studies have shown that increased APN may be associated with poor survival in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) [ 6 , 7 ], whereas a third study found high APN expression to be associated with favorable prognosis in such patients [ 8 ]. One study reported that elevated APN levels were associated with reduced disease-free survival (DFS) of patients with breast cancer [ 9 ], while another failed to find any significant association between APN expression and prognosis of such patients [ 10 ]. Other studies have similarly failed to find a significant relationship between APN expression and survival in patients with lung or gastric cancer [ 11 , 12 ].…”

Cytokine and Adipokine Levels in Patients with Premalignant Oral Lesions or in Patients with Oral Cancer Who Did or Did Not Receive 1α,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D3 Treatment upon Cancer Diagnosis

“…The clinical and immunological inter-relationships between levels of immune-modulatory adipokines and cancer have been an area of intense investigation, but not yet defined. Increased levels of adiponectin, which has anti-inflammatory properties, was associated in a study of breast cancer patients with reduced disease-free survival [ 5 ]. Similar results of reduced overall survival were seen for patients with squamous cell esophageal cancer having increased serum levels of adiponectin [ 1 ].…”

“…Studies with human peripheral blood mononuclear cells showed vitamin D to attenuate production of inflammatory cytokines in response to cancer cells [ 42 ]. Despite these studies showing immune tempering by vitamin D, increased overall survival has been shown for breast cancer patients with increased serum levels of vitamin D [ 5 ]. Studies using a hamster buccal pouch oral tumor model similarly showed clinical effectiveness of 1,25(OH) 2 D 3 treatment [ 54 ].…”

“…Both cytokines and adipokines that regulate inflammation have been associated with cancer risks or with cancer patient outcomes, and there have been suggestions of using inflammatory mediators as biomarkers for oral cancer [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 ]. While multiple studies have focused on assessing the impact of obesity-associated inflammatory adipokines on cancer risk [ 5 , 7 , 8 ], adipocytes also have an immune regulatory capacity outside of the obese state [ 9 , 10 , 11 ]. Adipocytes can contribute to inflammatory states through their capacity to produce a multitude of mediators including interleukin (IL)-6, IL-8, IL-10, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α and TNF-β [ 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 ].…”

Dietary lipids and adipocytes: potential therapeutic targets in cancers

“…It is also found that in cocultures of colon cancer cells with adipocytes, the proliferative effect exerted by the adipocytes was leptin-dependent as mature adipocytes from leptin-deficient mice did not increase cancer cell proliferation but could be rescued by exogenous leptin administration [94]. However, controversial findings are also reported to suggest that leptin is not associated with increased carcinoma in situ of the breast [95] and is not correlated with prostate cancer incidence [96]. Adiponectin is another adipokine; it is negatively correlated with adiposity and has anticancer effects.…”