학술논문

A Prospective Study of the Immune System Activation Biomarker Neopterin and Colorectal Cancer Risk
Document Type
article
Source
Journal of the National Cancer Institute. 107(4)
Subject
Biomedical and Clinical Sciences
Oncology and Carcinogenesis
Colo-Rectal Cancer
Cancer
Clinical Research
Digestive Diseases
Adult
Aged
Biomarkers
Tumor
Case-Control Studies
Chromatography
Liquid
Colonic Neoplasms
Colorectal Neoplasms
Europe
Female
Humans
Immunity
Cellular
Male
Middle Aged
Neopterin
Odds Ratio
Prospective Studies
Rectal Neoplasms
Sensitivity and Specificity
T-Lymphocytes
Helper-Inducer
Tandem Mass Spectrometry
Oncology & Carcinogenesis
Oncology and carcinogenesis
Language
Abstract
Neopterin may be relevant for colorectal cancer (CRC) development, as a biomarker of cellular immune activity exerting pleiotropic effects on cellular ageing, oxidative stress, and inflammation. So far, the association between prediagnostic neopterin and colon and rectal cancer risk has not been evaluated in human populations. A nested case-control study was conducted within the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition cohort using data on plasma concentrations of total neopterin (T-N, sum of neopterin and 7,8-dihydroneopterin) in 830 incident CRC case patients (561 colon and 269 rectal) matched within risk sets to 830 control participants. A subsequent replication study used data from the Hordaland Health Study, where 173 CRC case patients have been diagnosed among 6594 healthy participants over 12 years of follow-up. After multivariable adjustment for a priori chosen CRC risk factors, a "U-shaped" association of T-N with CRC was revealed. Compared with the second quintile of the T-N distribution, the relative risks for the first, third, fourth, and fifth quintiles were 2.37 (95% CI = 1.66 to 3.39), 1.24 (95% CI = 0.87 to 1.77), 1.55 (95% CI = 1.08 to 2.22), and 2.31 (95% CI = 1.63 to 3.27), respectively. Replication of these associations within the Hordaland Health Study yielded similar results. No differences have been observed when the associations were explored by colon and rectal cancer site (two-sided P difference = .87) and after excluding case patients diagnosed within the first four follow-up years. These novel findings provide evidence of the role of both suppressed and activated cell-mediated immunity as reflected by prediagnostic T-N concentrations in the development of CRC.