Objective: Current molecular characterization of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) does not incorporate the host reaction to cancer cells and cannot predict the response to chemo- or immunotherapy. Leptin is an adipokine involved in regulating energy balance with a possible role in the development of obesity-associated cancers, but its relationship with other pathways in pancreatic carcinogenesis has not been established yet. The aim of this prospective study was to assess the involvement of leptin and phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) in the survival of overweight and/or diabetic patients with PDAC.
Patients and methods: A total of 112 patients were included, 56 diagnosed with PDAC and 56 age and sex-matched healthy controls, with a maximum follow-up of 24-months. The circulating leptin, interleukin 1-beta, tumor factor necrosis-alpha, and PI3K were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). A multivariate Cox regression model was used to determine the factors influencing survival.
Results: The serum levels of leptin [38.5 (31.6-47.0) pg/ml] and other cytokines in PDAC patients were similar to controls, irrespective of the presence of diabetes. No significant correlation between the biomarkers was found. In obese and overweight patients, the leptin level and survival rate were lower than in non-obese patients.
Conclusions: The leptin level was not associated with the presence of PDAC, although it was lower in obese and overweight patients who had lower survival. No association with inflammatory biomarkers or PI3K was noted. Furthermore, leptin levels had no independent role in survival, suggesting that the prognostic role of obesity in PDAC is based on a different pathway.