Predictors of elevated C-reactive protein among pre-treatment, newly diagnosed breast cancer patients: A cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background & AimsAccumulating evidence showed that inflammation contributes markedly to cancer progression, with C-reactive protein (CRP) being one of the lengthily studied inflammation marker. For breast cancer (BCa), pre-treatment elevated CRP upon diagnosis was linked with increased mortality. This study aimed to identify factors predictive of elevated CRP in pre-treatment BCa population that can serve as potential therapeutic targets to reduce inflammation. MethodsThis is a cross-sectional study using multiple logistic regression to identify predictors of elevated CRP among pre-treatment, newly diagnosed BCa patients. Studied variables were socio-demographic and medical characteristics, anthropometric measurements [body weight, Body Mass Index, body fat percentage, fat mass/fat free mass ratio, muscle mass, visceral fat], biochemical parameters [albumin, hemoglobin, white blood cell (WBC), neutrophil, lymphocyte], energy-adjusted Dietary Inflammatory Index, handgrip strength (HGS), scored Patient Generated-Subjective Global Assessment, physical activity level and perceived stress scale (PSS). ResultsA total of 105 participants took part in this study. Significant predictors of elevated CRP were body fat percentage (OR 1.222; 95 % CI 1.099–1.358; p < 0.001), PSS (OR 1.120; 95 % CI 1.026–1.223; p = 0.011), low vs normal HGS (OR 41.928; 95 % CI 2.155–815.728; p = 0.014), albumin (OR 0.779; 95 % CI 0.632–0.960; p = 0.019), and WBC (OR 1.418; 95% CI 1.024–1.963; p = 0.036). ConclusionOverall, predictors of elevated CRP in pre-treatment, newly diagnosed BCa population were body fat percentage, PSS, HGS category, albumin and WBC.