Body Fatness, Adipose Tissue Compartments, and Biomarkers of Inflammation and Angiogenesis in Colorectal Cancer: The ColoCare Study
Caroline Himbert, Jennifer Ose, Johanna Nattenmüller, Christy A Warby, Andreana N Holowatyj, Jürgen Böhm, Tengda Lin, Mariam Haffa, Biljana Gigic, Sheetal Hardikar, Dominique Scherer, Lin Zielske, Petra Schrotz-King, Torsten Kölsch, Erin M Siegel, David Shibata, Alexis Ulrich, Martin Schneider, Stephen D Hursting, Hans-Ulrich Kauczor, Cornelia M Ulrich, Caroline Himbert, Jennifer Ose, Johanna Nattenmüller, Christy A Warby, Andreana N Holowatyj, Jürgen Böhm, Tengda Lin, Mariam Haffa, Biljana Gigic, Sheetal Hardikar, Dominique Scherer, Lin Zielske, Petra Schrotz-King, Torsten Kölsch, Erin M Siegel, David Shibata, Alexis Ulrich, Martin Schneider, Stephen D Hursting, Hans-Ulrich Kauczor, Cornelia M Ulrich
Abstract
Background: Adiposity has been linked to both risk and prognosis of colorectal cancer; however, the impact of different fat areas [visceral (VFA) vs. subcutaneous fat area (SFA)] is unclear. We investigated associations between adiposity and biomarkers of inflammation and angiogenesis among patients with colorectal cancer.
Methods: Preoperative serum samples and computed tomography scans were obtained from 188 patients diagnosed with primary invasive stage I-IV colorectal cancer enrolled in the ColoCare Study. Adiposity was assessed by area-based quantification of VFA, SFA, and VFA:SFA ratio on spinal levels L3/L4 and L4/L5. Circulating levels of inflammation (CRP, SAA, sICAM-1, and sVCAM-1) and angiogenesis (VEGF-A and VEGF-D) were assessed from patient sera on the Meso Scale Discovery platform. Partial correlations and regression analyses, adjusted for age, sex, and tumor stage, were performed.
Results: VFA was moderately correlated with CRP and SAA (CRP: L3/L4 and L4/L5:r = 0.21, P = 0.01; SAA: L3/L4:r = 0.17, P = 0.04). The correlation between SFA and the measured biomarkers were weak (r ≤ 0.13, not significant). The ratio of VFA:SFA at L3/L4 was moderately correlated with VEGF-A (r = 0.28, P = 0.0008) and SAA (r = 0.24, P = 0.006), and less so with CRP (r = 0.18, P = 0.04) and sICAM-1 (r = 0.18, P = 0.04). Similar correlations were found for the VFA:SFA ratio at L4/L5.
Conclusions: We observed an association between visceral adiposity and biomarkers of inflammation and angiogenesis in colorectal cancer. In particular, the VFA:SFA ratio was correlated with circulating levels of the proangiogenic biomarker VEGF-A.
Impact: Our findings support a direct association of visceral adipose tissue with inflammatory and angiogenic processes, which play fundamental roles in the development and progression of colorectal cancer.
Conflict of interest statement
CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
The authors declare no conflicts of interest with this work.
©2018 American Association for Cancer Research.
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Source: PubMed