Serum Chemerin Level in Breast Cancer

Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in women, and obesity is a causative factor via estrogen exposure. Chemerin is a novel adipokine associated with obesity, metabolic syndrome, and polycystic ovary syndrome. We aimed to investigate serum chemerin levels in breast cancer and to correlate chemerin levels with clinicopathologic parameters of patients with newly diagnosed breast cancer. A total of 117 patients were enrolled the study. Serum chemerin levels were measured using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Ethical approval and informed consents were attained. Thirty-seven of the study population was metastatic and 80 were non-metastatic at the time of diagnosis. The mean chemerin levels were 257.3 ± 68.7 ng/mL (148.1-526.0 ng/mL). Serum chemerin levels were significantly higher in post-menopausal women and patients with diabetes, hypertension, body mass index (BMI) ≥30 kg/m2 and age ≥50 years. Chemerin levels were not different in either group (p= 0.435). Multivariate analyses of parameters showed that CA15.3 and CEA levels were associated with metastatic disease. Our results propose that serum chemerin levels are not associated with breast cancer stage. However, further studies need to evaluate its role in carcinogenesis.