Evaluation of insulin-like growth factor-I in postmenopausal women with breast cancer treated with raloxifene

Benedito B Da Silva,Alesse R Dos Santos,Pedro V Lopes-Costa,Edílson C Sousa-Junior,Cleicilene G Pires,Daniel S Moita

doi:10.1186/1477-7800-4-18

Benedito B Da Silva, Alesse R Dos Santos + Show 4 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1186/1477-7800-4-18

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Abstract

BackgroundThe objective of this study was to evaluate serum IGF-I levels in postmenopausal women with breast cancer treated primarily with raloxifene.MethodsTwenty-two postmenopausal patients with operable, stage I or II, estrogen receptor-positive carcinomas participated in this study. Following confirmation of diagnosis, the patients received 60 mg of raloxifene for 28 days prior to definitive surgery. Blood samples were collected for evaluation of serum IGF-I levels prior to initiating medication and following a 28-day treatment course. Student's t-test for paired samples was used in the statistical analysis. Significance was established at p < 0.05.ResultsMean serum IGF-I levels pre- and post-raloxifene treatment were 143.7 ± 9.7 ng/ml and 94.8 ± 7.6 ng/ml, respectively. This reduction in serum IGF-I levels following treatment with raloxifene was statistically significant (p < 0.001).ConclusionRaloxifene significantly reduced serum IGF-I levels in postmenopausal women with breast cancer.

Highlights

The objective of this study was to evaluate serum Insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) levels in postmenopausal women with breast cancer treated primarily with raloxifene
Insulin-like growth factors I and II are almost exclusively bound to insulin-like growth factor (IGF) binding proteins (IGFBPs), less than 1% circulating freely [7]
There are six types of IGFBP; more than 90% of all circulating IGF-I is bound to IGF binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3) [7,9,10]

Summary

Introduction

The objective of this study was to evaluate serum IGF-I levels in postmenopausal women with breast cancer treated primarily with raloxifene. Insulin-like growth factors I and II are almost exclusively bound to IGF binding proteins (IGFBPs), less than 1% circulating freely [7]. There are six types of IGFBP; more than 90% of all circulating IGF-I is bound to IGF binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3) [7,9,10]. Studies have shown an association of increased serum levels of IGF-I and decreased levels of IGFBP-3 with an increased risk of breast cancer in premenopausal women [13,14], suggesting that these patients may benefit from measures able to reduce serum IGF-I levels and increase IGFBP-3 levels. A few studies have shown that some (page number not for citation purposes)

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