The chemoattractant adipokine chemerin is related to the metabolic syndrome, which is a risk factor for different cancers. Recent studies provide evidence that chemerin is an important molecule in colorectal cancer (CRC) and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Serum chemerin is high in CRC patients and low in HCC patients and may serve as a differential diagnostic marker for HCC and liver metastases from CRC. To this end, serum chemerin was measured in 36 patients with CRC metastases, 32 patients with HCC and 49 non-tumor patients by ELISA. Chemerin serum protein levels were, however, similar in the three cohorts. Serum chemerin was higher in hypertensive than normotensive tumor patients but not controls. Cancer patients with hypercholesterolemia or hyperuricemia also had increased serum chemerin. When patients with these comorbidities were excluded from the calculation, chemerin was higher in CRC than HCC patients but did not differ from controls. Chemerin did not correlate with the tumor markers carcinoembryonic antigen, carbohydrate antigen 19-9 and alpha-fetoprotein in both cohorts and was not changed with tumor-node-metastasis stage in HCC. Chemerin was not associated with hepatic fat, liver inflammation and fibrosis. To conclude, systemic chemerin did not discriminate between CRC metastases and HCC. Comorbidities among tumor patients were linked with elevated systemic chemerin.
Keywords: alpha-fetoprotein; hypertension; liver steatosis.