Abstract
Background/aim: Limited information is available about the relationship between colorectal cancer (CRC) and serum concentration of insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF1) and insulin-like growth factor-binding protein 3 (IGFBP3). This study aims to compare the serum levels of IGF1and IGFBP3 in colorectal cancer cases and controls and to assess the relationship between their level and the demographic and histopathological characteristics.Methods: A case-control study in which 50 patients with colorectal cancer and 50 controls matched by gender and age were compared regarding the demographic characteristics and the level of both IGF1 and IGFBP3. The correlation with different clinicopathological features was assessed.Results: Levels of IGF1 were significantly higher while levels of IGFBP3 were significantly lower among cases compared to control. IGF1 was significantly higher among patients with liver metastasis, lymph node (LN) spread, and lymphovenous invasions and did not show significant association with gender, smoking status, family history, or primary site of colorectal cancer. Lower IGFBP3 was significantly high among patients with liver and lymph node metastasis, lymphovenous invasion, and patients with positive family history. This significant negative correlation was also detected between IGFBP3 levels and the size of the tumor.Conclusions: High IGF1 levels and low concentrations of IGFBP3 are related to colorectal cancer and were significantly associated with liver metastasis, lymph node spread, and lymphovenous invasions. Further research is recommended to investigate if circulating IGF1 and IGFBP3 levels can be used to identify people at high risk of colorectal cancer and to investigate potential lifestyle or pharmaceutical ways to lower IGF1 bioactivity as a risk reduction strategy.
Highlights
Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most prevalent cancer worldwide and the second most common cancercausing mortality [1,2]
The average insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF1) was significantly higher among cases compared to the control group (231.8 ± 64.6 versus 129 ± 12.3; p-value < 0.001), whereas insulin-like growth factor system (IGFs)-binding protein3 (IGFBP3) was significantly lower among cases (2438.4 ± 855.4) than controls (3009.1 ± 441.3; p-value
IGF1 was significantly higher among patients with liver metastasis, lymph node spread, and lymphovascular invasions and did not show significant association with gender, smoking status, family history, or primary site of CRC
Summary
Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most prevalent cancer worldwide and the second most common cancercausing mortality [1,2]. A relationship between various components of the insulin-like growth factor system (IGFs) and the development of cancers, both solid tumors and hematological malignancies, has been noted for several decades [3,4,5,6]. Two ligands (IGF1 and IGF2), two cell-surface receptors (IGF1R and IGF2R), a family of six high-affinity IGF binding proteins (IGFBPs 1 to 6), and four additional low-affinity binding proteins make up the IGFs. The IGFBPs have a high affinity for an insulin-like growth factor (IGF), and their primary purpose is to monitor the availability of IGF for interactions with IGFR. In several malignancies, including CRC, abnormal expression of IGF, as well as their receptors and binding proteins, have been reported [3,4,10,11]
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