Inflammatory biomarkers, aspirin, and risk of colorectal cancer: Findings from the physicians' health study.

Chul Kim, Xuehong Zhang, Andrew T Chan, Howard D Sesso, Nader Rifai, Meir J Stampfer, Jing Ma

Journal: Cancer epidemiology 2017;44():65-70

PMID: 27504605

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Abstract

BACKGROUND

Chronic inflammation has been implicated in colorectal carcinogenesis. However, the associations between plasma inflammatory markers and risk of colorectal cancer have been inconsistent.

METHODS

In a nested case-control study in the Physicians' Health Study, we prospectively investigated the associations of plasma C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and tumor necrosis factor receptor 2 (TNFR-2) with risk of colorectal cancer, and whether aspirin modified these associations among 268 colorectal cancer patients and 446 age- and smoking-matched controls.

RESULTS

In multivariate-adjusted models, plasma levels of CRP, IL-6 and TNFR-2 were not significantly associated with risk of colorectal cancer, although a positive trend was observed for TNFR-2 (RR=1.55; 95% CI=0.95-2.54; P=0.05). We observed a statistically significant association between elevated TNFR-2 levels and colorectal cancer risk in the placebo arm (RR=1.77; 95% CI=1.02-3.06; P=0.02), but not in the aspirin arm (P=0.72). However, the interaction between TNFR-2 and aspirin was not statistically significant (P=0.34).

CONCLUSION

Plasma inflammatory markers were not significantly associated with colorectal cancer risk among men, though there was a statistically non-significant positive trend between TNFR-2 and colorectal cancer risk. More studies are required to understand the relationship between the role of TNFα pathway, aspirin, and colorectal cancer risk.

Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Address: Department of Medicine, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, MN, United States; Medical Oncology Service, National Cancer Institute, National Institute of Health, Bethesda, MD, United States. Electronic address: [email protected].; Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States.; Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States; Gastrointestinal Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States.; Department of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, United States; Division of Preventive Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States.; Department of Pathology, Children's Hospital Medical Center, Boston, MA, United States.; Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States; Department of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, United States; Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, United States.; Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States. Electronic address: [email protected].

DOI: 10.1016/j.canep.2016.07.012

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MeSH Terms: Adult, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Aspirin, C-Reactive Protein, Case-Control Studies, Colorectal Neoplasms, Double-Blind Method, Female, Humans, Inflammation, Interleukin-6, Male, Middle Aged, Prospective Studies, Receptors, Tumor Necrosis Factor, Type II, Risk Factors