title: Body mass index and serum proteomic profile in breast cancer and healthy women: a prospective study.
abstract: Epidemiological studies suggest a possible association between BMI, diagnosis and clinical-pathological breast cancer characteristics but biological bases for this relationship still remain to be ascertained. Several biological mechanisms play a role in the genesis and progression of breast cancer. This study aimed to investigate relationships between BMI and breast cancer diagnosis/progression in a Southern Italian population and to try to interpret results according to the serum proteomic profile of healthy and breast cancer patients. BMI, presence or absence of breast cancer and its clinical-pathological characteristics were analyzed in a series of 300 breast cancer women and compared with those of 300 healthy women prospectively. To investigate whether obesity is associated with alterations in serum protein profile, SELDI-ToF approach was applied.Alcohol consumption (22.7% vs 11.3%; p<0.001) and postmenopausal status (65.7% vs 52%; p<0.001) but not BMI resulted significantly different in patients vs controls. Conversely, BMI was significantly associated with a larger-tumour size (BMI> = 30 respect to normal weight: OR = 2.49, 95% CI 1.25-4.99, p = 0.0098) and a higher probability of having positive axillary lymph node (OR = 3.67, CI 95% 2.16-6.23, p<0.0001). Multivariate analysis confirmed the association of breast cancer diagnosis with alcohol consumption (OR = 2.28;CI 1.36-3.83; p<0.0018). Serum protein profile revealed the presence of significant (p-value <0,01) differentially expressed peaks m/z 6934, m/z 5066 in high BMI breast cancer patients vs healthy subjects and m/z 6934, m/z 3346 in high vs low BMI breast cancer patients.The analysis of pathological features of cancer indicates that normal weight women have a significantly higher probability of having a smaller breast cancer at time of diagnosis and negative axillary lymph nodes while increased BMI is associated with an altered protein profile in breast cancer patients. Further studies to identify specific proteins found in the serum and their role in breast cancerogenesis and progression are in progress.
authors.affiliation: Clinical Experimental Oncology Department, National Cancer Research Centre, Istituto Tumori Giovanni Paolo II, Bari, Italy. vito.m.garrisi@oncologico.bari.it
authors.forename: Vito Michele
authors.initials: VM
authors.lastname: Garrisi
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tufaro
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Trerotoli
authors.forename: Italia
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Bongarzone
authors.forename: Michele
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Quaranta
authors.forename: Vincenzo
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Ventrella
authors.forename: Stefania
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tommasi
authors.forename: Gianluigi
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Giannelli
authors.forename: Angelo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Paradiso
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000009:adverse effects; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002471:Cell Transformation, Neoplastic / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008875:Middle Aged; D017698:Postmenopause; D011446:Prospective Studies; D020543:Proteome / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D019032:Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization; D047368:Tumor Burden
chemical_list: D020543:Proteome