Does Chronic Low-grade Systemic Inflammation Change Tumor Markers Levels in Patients on Hemodialysis?

Introduction: End-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients are known to have a high risk of developing cancer-related inflammation. Elevated serum levels of tumor markers in ESRD/hemodialysis patients makes analysis and interpretation difficult.  Aim: To verify the possible relationship between chronic low-grade systemic inflammation serum levels determined by C-reactive protein (CRP) and the tumor biomarkers in patients on hemodialysis.  Materials and methods: A prospective study of prevalence was conducted in the Hemodialysis Sector of the University Hospital of the University of Brasília between July 2016 and December 2016 in men aged 18 to 60 years without clinically detectable cancer. We assessed inflammation by serum high-sensitivity CRP test (hs-CRP) and serum tumor in the case groups and controls. The hemodialysis group was split into two subgroups: group 1: patients with inflammation (CRP > 5 mg/L, n=27), and group 2: patients without inflam-mation (CRP ≤5 mg/L, n=33). Results: There was no significant difference in age mean levels between case groups and controls (44.00±08.00 vs. 41.00±07.00, p=0.08). There was no difference or correlation (p>0.05) between tumor markers levels and patients with and without inflammation.  Conclusions: The results of this study suggest that chronic low-grade systemic inflammation defined by C-reactive protein serum levels does not promote elevated serum PSA levels in chronic hemodialysis patients.