Adiponectin And Risk Of Colon Cancer

High plasma levels of adiponectin, an insulin-sensitizing hormone secreted by fat cells, are associated with a decreased risk of colorectal cancer, a new study has found.

Adiponectin concentrations are inversely associated with body fat (that is, people with higher amounts of body fat tend to have lower circulating levels of adiponectin), and low levels of adiponectin are associated with insulin resistance and hyperinsulinemia. To determine whether plasma levels of adiponectin are associated with the risk of colorectal cancer, Esther K. Wei, Sc.D., of the Channing Laboratory at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, and his colleagues compared the baseline plasma adiponectin levels of 179 men in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study who developed colorectal cancer with those of 356 men who did not develop cancer.

They found that men with the highest plasma adiponectin levels had a lower risk of developing colorectal cancer than men with the lowest plasma adiponectin levels. The inverse association remained even after adjusting for various measures of body fatness and other colorectal cancer risk factors. The authors conclude that more studies--particularly in women, who tend to have higher circulating levels of adiponectin than men--are needed to fully understand the relationship between adiponectin and carcinogenesis.

The Journal of the National Cancer Institute is published by Oxford University Press and is not affiliated with the National Cancer Institute. Attribution to the Journal of the National Cancer Institute is requested in all news coverage. Visit the Journal online at jncicancerspectrum.oxfordjournals.org.

Kate Travis.
kate.travis@oxfordjournals.org.
Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
jncicancerspectrum.oupjournals.org.

Did you know?
High plasma levels of adiponectin, an insulin-sensitizing hormone secreted by fat cells, are associated with a decreased risk of colorectal cancer, a new study has found.Adiponectin concentrations are inversely associated with body fat (that is, people with higher amounts of body fat tend to have lower circulating levels of adiponectin), and low levels of adiponectin are associated with insulin resistance and hyperinsulinemia. To determine whether plasma levels of adiponectin are associated with the risk of colorectal cancer, Esther K. Wei, Sc.D., of the Channing Laboratory at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, and his colleagues compared the baseline plasma adiponectin levels of 179 men in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study who developed colorectal cancer with those of 356 men who did not develop cancer.