Circulating Omentin-1 as a Biomarker at the Intersection of Postmenopausal Breast Cancer Occurrence and Cardiometabolic Risk: An Observational Cross-Sectional Study.

Gerasimos Socrates Christodoulatos,Georgios Antonakos,Natalia Vallianou,Antigoni Lekka,Sotiria Psallida,Ioanna Marinou,Styliani Kokoris,Maria Dalamaga,Athanasios G Papavassiliou,Evaggelos Vogiatzakis,Irene Karampela,Theodora Stratigou

doi:10.3390/biom11111609

Abstract

Aberrant circulating omentin-1, which is an anti-inflammatory and pro-apoptotic adipokine, has been reported in various solid tumors. Therefore, we investigated whether circulating omentin-1 could be associated with postmenopausal BC (PBC) and could be used as a potential diagnostic and clinical tool taking into consideration clinicopathologic features, tumor markers, as well as anthropometric, metabolic, and inflammatory parameters. Serum omentin-1, tumor markers (CA15-3 and CEA); metabolic (insulin, glucose, HOMA index, and serum lipids), anthropometric (BMI, waist circumference, and fat mass), and inflammatory (TNF-α, IL-6, hsCRP) parameters; classic adipokines (leptin and adiponectin); the Mediterranean diet (MedDiet) score; and cardiovascular (CVD) risk were determined in 103 postmenopausal women with pathologically confirmed incident invasive BC, 103 controls matched on age, 51 patients with benign breast lesions (BBL), and 50 obese postmenopausal women of similar age. The mean serum omentin-1 was significantly lower in cases than in controls and patients with BBL (p < 0.001). In the patients, omentin-1 was inversely associated with tumor, metabolic and inflammatory biomarkers, cancer stage, and the number of infiltrated lymph nodes (p < 0.05). In all study participants, omentin-1 was negatively correlated with CVD risk and positively correlated with MedDiet score. Lower circulating omentin-1 was independently associated with PBC occurrence above and beyond known risk factors. According to the ROC curve analysis, the overall diagnostic performance of omentin-1 (0.84, 95% CI 0.79–0.89) is similar to CA15-3. Circulating omentin-1 may be a biomarker at the intersection of PBC and cardiometabolic risk in postmenopausal women, and could be modulated by the adoption of a MedDiet. Further mechanistic and large multicentric prospective and longitudinal studies are required to elucidate the ontological role of omentin-1 in BC and CVD risks, as well as its diagnostic and prognostic ability and its therapeutic potential.

Highlights

Breast cancer (BC) constitutes the most frequent type of malignancy amid women, contributing significantly to the global health burden with an estimated 2.3 million new cases globally [1,2,3,4]
Taking into account variables from matched controls mainly, as well as from patients with benign breast lesions (BBL) and participants with obesity, these data uncovered the majority of established risk factors that characterize cases with postmenopausal BC (PBC) such as a positive family history of BC and other cancers; a more frequent use of oral contraceptives or hormones for replacement therapy; a more frequent consumption of alcohol; less physical activity; a more frequent history of metabolic syndrome (Mets); and less consumption of olive oil, vegetables, and fruits than controls (p < 0.05)
The results of our study depicting lower omentin-1 in BC are in agreement with the results of three small case-control studies (N = 30 to 88 premenopausal and postmenopausal case participants) [25,26,27], which provided unadjusted associations due to their small sample size, and the results of a meta-analysis of the two previous studies examining the association of serum omentin-1 with BC occurrence [22,44]

Summary

Introduction

Breast cancer (BC) constitutes the most frequent type of malignancy amid women, contributing significantly to the global health burden with an estimated 2.3 million new cases globally [1,2,3,4]. The overgrowth and dysfunctionality of the adipose tissue in obesity, visceral obesity, may lead to substantial alterations in its cellular composition, as well as in the dysregulation of adipocytokines that synergically promote chronic subclinical inflammation, insulin resistance, microenvironmental and cellular perturbations, and tumor transformation [4,7,11,12]. While classic adipocytokines, such as leptin and adiponectin, have been associated with BC in in vitro, animal and epidemiologic studies, little is known about novel adipocytokines [7,10,13,14]

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion