Abstract
Adiponectin (APN) is a major adipokine systhesized by the adipose tissue. A significant body of preclinical evidence has documented the involvement of APN in molecular pathways with a key role in carcinogenesis, while some, but not all, previous clinical studies have suggested the potential value of this molecule as a biomarker of diagnosis and/or prognosis in various malignancies, mainly including obesity-related solid tumors. The main objective of this study was to further explore the prognostic implications of APN levels in the serum and bronchoalveolar lavage of patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Twenty-nine (29) consecutive newly diagnosed NSCLC patients with stage IV disease were prospectively enrolled. Serum and BAL levels of APN were obtained at baseline (before initiation of any therapeutic intervention) and assayed by enzyme-linked immunoassay (ELISA). Serum and BAL levels of APN were correlated with standard clinicopathologic parameters, including gender, age, body mass index (BMI), weight loss, size, histology and grade of the primary tumor, pathologic nodal status and performance status (PS). The association of each study variable with overall survival (OS) was assessed by univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses. Mean age of patients was 65.6 years (SD=10.1 years), while the majority were male (24/29 cases, 82.8%). The predominant histological type was adenocarcinoma (18/29 cases, 62.1% ). PS was 0 and ≥1 in 17/29 (58.6%) and 12/29 (41.4%) patients, respectively. Weight loss more than 10% was noted in 10/29 patients (34.5%). Median serum and BAL APN levels were 911.5 ng/ml and 17710 ng/ml, respectively. No statistically significant correlations were observed between the serum or BAL levels of APN and the clinicopathologic parameters evaluated. Univariate Cox regression analysis showed that APN levels were not significantly associated with survival. The only prognostic factor identified, both by univariate and multivariate survival analysis, was PS. The results of our prospective cohort failed to reveal any significant associations between serum or BAL levels of APN and several prognostic parameters (including OS) in stage IV NSCLC, thus confirming most previous observations.
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