Relationship of obesity with serum concentrations of leptin, CRP and IL-6 in breast cancer survivors

Abstract

Introduction: Several mechanisms have been proposed to explain the adverse effect of obesity on quality of life among women with breast cancer, including alteration in some inflammatory markers. The aim of this study was to determine the status of serum levels of leptin, IL-6 and CRP in obese, overweight and normal weight breast cancer survivors in order to determine the relationship between inflammatory markers' levels and obesity.

Materials and methods: This cross-sectional study was done on 75 women with breast cancer, 30 obese, 15 overweight and 30 normal weight patients. Serum leptin, IL-6, CRP, total protein, albumin and lipid profile as well as anthropometric parameters were measured in three groups.

Results: Serum leptin levels of obese patients were significantly higher than those of overweight and normal weight patients (P<0.05). Higher serum CRP and lower albumin levels were observed in obese patients in comparison with normal weight patients (P<0.05). HDL-C level was significantly different between overweight and normal weight patients (P<0.05). Significant differences in serum IL-6 levels were not observed between the study groups (P>0.05). Moreover, multiple regression analysis showed that leptin was significantly associated with BMI (P<0.001), while albumin was negatively correlated with BMI (P<0.05). CRP levels were significantly correlated with BMI and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) (P<0.05).

Conclusions: In conclusion, high leptin levels and alteration in acute phase proteins in obese patients may exaggerate the inflammation status. As inflammation has the potential to increase the susceptibility of the patients to metastasis development, it is necessary to decline its rate.

Keywords: Breast cancer; C-reactive protein; IL-6; Leptin; Obesity.