Plasma adiponectin and gastric cancer.
BACKGROUND
Recently, increased body weight has been associated with an increased risk of cancers at multiple specific sites, including gastric cancer. Adiponectin is a peptide hormone secreted by adipose tissue, affecting the proliferation and insulin sensitivity of various types of cells. Moreover, the circulating level of adiponectin has been reported to be inversely related to body mass index.


METHODS
Fasting plasma levels of adiponectin were determined in 75 patients with gastric cancer and 52 healthy controls using an ELISA. In these patients, we analyzed the association between plasma adiponectin level and gastric cancer risk as well as various clinicopathologic characteristics.


RESULTS
Plasma adiponectin level was significantly lower in patients with gastric cancer than in healthy controls (9.1 +/- 6.2 versus 13.3 +/- 9.4 ng/mL, P < 0.01) and showed a significant modest inverse relation with the gastric cancer (odds ratio, 0.92; 95% confidence interval, 0.85-0.97; adjusted odds ratio, 0.89; 95% confidence interval, 0.84-0.95], although body mass index was not different. In addition, adiponectin level was extremely low in patients with upper gastric cancers (upper, 5.5 +/- 4.1 ng/mL; middle, 9.7 +/- 6.4 ng/mL; lower, 10.7 +/- 4.1 ng/mL; P = 0.012). Furthermore, adiponectin level tended to decrease as the tumor stage increased (stage I, 9.9 +/- 6.9 ng/mL; stage II, 8.7 +/- 5.5 ng/mL; stage III, 8.6 +/- 4.1 ng/mL; stage IV, 5.2 +/- 6.2 ng/mL; P = 0.34). Interestingly, in 32 patients with undifferentiated cancer, serum adiponectin showed a negative correlation with pathologic findings such as tumor size, depth of invasion, as well as tumor stage (P < 0.05), but no correlation in the remaining 43 patients with differentiated cancer.


CONCLUSIONS
Our results suggest that a low plasma adiponectin level is associated with an increased risk for gastric cancer and raise the possibility that adiponectin has a potential role in the progression of gastric cancer, especially in undifferentiated type cancers in the upper stomach.
Ishikawa
Makoto
M
Department of Surgery, Division of Surgical Oncology, University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8655, Japan. makoto-ishi@umin.ac.jp
Kitayama
Joji
J
Kazama
Shinsuke
S
Hiramatsu
Takeyuki
T
Hatano
Kenji
K
Nagawa
Hirokazu
H
D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000097:blood / Q000209:etiology; D052242:Adiponectin; D015992:Body Mass Index; D018279:Carcinoma, Signet Ring Cell / Q000097:blood / Q000209:etiology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D003094:Collagen / Q000097:blood; D015536:Down-Regulation; D005215:Fasting; D005260:Female; D005753:Gastric Mucosa / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D036341:Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins / Q000097:blood*; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness / Q000473:pathology; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D013270:Stomach / Q000473:pathology; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000209:etiology
D052242:Adiponectin; D036341:Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D003094:Collagen