title: Adipokines linking obesity with colorectal cancer risk in postmenopausal women.
abstract: Mechanistic associations between obesity and colorectal cancer remain unclear. In this study, we investigated whether adipokines are risk factors for colorectal cancer and whether they may mediate its association with obesity. In a case-cohort study nested within the Women's Health Initiative cohort of postmenopausal women, baseline plasma samples from 457 colorectal cancer cases and 841 subcohort subjects were assayed for seven adipokines-adiponectin, leptin, plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1), resistin, hepatocyte growth factor, interleukin-6 (IL-6), and TNF-α. Serum insulin and estradiol values measured previously were also available for data analysis. After adjusting for age, race, smoking, colonoscopy history, and estrogen level, a low level of anti-inflammatory adiponectin and high levels of proinflammatory leptin, PAI-1, and IL-6 were associated with increased colorectal cancer risk, though only leptin remained significant after further adjustment for insulin [HRs comparing extreme quartiles (HR(Q4-Q1)), 1.84; 95% CI, 1.17-2.90]. Mediation analyses showed that leptin and insulin partially explained the association between waist circumference and colorectal cancer and attenuated it by 25% and 37%, respectively, with insulin being a significant mediator (P = 0.041). Our findings support the conclusion that adipokines involved in inflammation are associated with colorectal cancer risk, but that their effects may be mediated mostly by insulin, with leptin exerting an independent effect. Hyperinsulinemia and hyperleptinemia may therefore partially explain the adiposity association with colorectal cancer in postmenopausal women.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York 10461, USA. gloria.ho@einstein.yu.edu
authors.forename: Gloria Y F
authors.initials: GY
authors.lastname: Ho
authors.forename: Tao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Marc J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Gunter
authors.forename: Howard D
authors.initials: HD
authors.lastname: Strickler
authors.forename: Mary
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cushman
authors.forename: Robert C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Kaplan
authors.forename: Sylvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wassertheil-Smoller
authors.forename: Xiaonan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Xue
authors.forename: Swapnil N
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Rajpathak
authors.forename: Rowan T
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Chlebowski
authors.forename: Mara Z
authors.initials: MZ
authors.lastname: Vitolins
authors.forename: Philipp E
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Scherer
authors.forename: Thomas E
authors.initials: TE
authors.lastname: Rohan
mesh_terms: D054392:Adipokines / Q000097:blood*; D000368:Aged; D015992:Body Mass Index; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D015331:Cohort Studies; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000453:epidemiology; D004958:Estradiol / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006946:Hyperinsulinism / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D007328:Insulin / Q000097:blood; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000097:blood* / Q000150:complications; D017698:Postmenopause; D012307:Risk Factors
chemical_list: D054392:Adipokines; D007328:Insulin; D004958:Estradiol