Serum Adiponectin Level Association with Breast Cancer Risk: Evidence from a Case-Control Study

Background: Adiponectin is a protein, synthesized by adipose tissue, which has a questionable role in breastcancer pathogenesis. This study focused on serum levels of adiponectin among cases and controls, and its possibleassociation with breast cancer risk. Materials and
Methods: This case-control study covered 175 diagnosedbreast cancer patients with positive histopathology from Breast Clinic, surgical unit-1, Civil Hospital, Karachiand 175 healthy controls from various screening programs. Blood samples were obtained after an overnightfast and later analyzed.
Results: Fasting blood glucose was significantly raised, while serum adiponectin wassignificantly decreased in breast cancer cases when compared to control subjects. To find the precise influenceof serum adiponectin on the risk of breast cancer, subjects were divided in to quartiles based on serum levelsof adiponectin. It is observed that risk of breast cancer decreased with rising quartile. Q2 (25th-50th) had thehighest OR=1.76 (CI: 0.93- 3.34), Q3 (50th-75th) has OR= 0.89 (CI: 0.48-1.64), while subjects in the highestquartile Q4 (>75th) had significantly (p< 0.05) decreased risk of breast cancer having OR=0.06 (CI: 0.02-0.15),when compared to the lowest quartile.
Conclusions: We demonstrated a statistically significant association ofelevated serum adiponectin with decreased risk of breast cancer. This signifies a protective role of adiponectinvia an intricate mechanism of masking mitogenic growth factors in breast carcinogenesis.