Low adiponcetin Associated With Increased Pancreatic Cancer Risk

Extract

Low prediagnostic levels of circulating adiponectin were associated with an increased risk of pancreatic cancer, according to a study published December 14 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute .

Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer death in the U.S., but its etiology remains unclear. Adiponectin, a hormone secreted from fat cells, has insulin-sensitizing and anti-inflammatory properties. Low adiponectin plasma levels are associated with the insulin resistance that manifests in obesity and diabetes mellitus, both of which are risk factors for pancreatic cancer.

In order to determine if prediagnostic plasma levels of adiponectin were linked to an increased risk of pancreatic cancer, Ying Bao, M.D., Sc.D., Channing Laboratory, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, and colleagues, pooled the data from five prospective U.S. cohort studies, and matched 468 pancreatic cancer case subjects with 1,080 healthy control subjects by cohort, year of birth, smoking status, fasting status, and month of blood draw. They assessed the association between adiponectin and pancreatic cancer risk with conditional logistic regression.