A novel adipose hormone asprosin as a potential breast cancer marker

Abstract PurposeAsprosin is a recently discovered hormone released by white adipose tissue (WAT) that is typically significantly elevated in obese adults. Consequently, the adverse effects of increasing WAT in obesity during breast cancer (BC) development and progression have attracted interest of researchers and clinical practitioners. Thus, the aim of the present study was to determine whether the asprosin levels are associated with the probability of women having BC. MethodsThe study sample comprised of 45 female patients diagnosed with invasive BC and 42 healthy women that served as controls. Asprosin serum level was quantified in all subjects by ELISA, whereas serum levels of CEA and CA 15–3 were measured using an immunology analyzer. The potential association between asprosin and BC was examined through logistic regression analyses, while samples provided by BC patients were further subjected to ROC analysis to assess the diagnostic accuracy of asprosin. ResultsAsprosin levels were significantly higher in BC patients compared to healthy controls (2.38 ± 0.54 vs. 1.39 ± 0.53 ng/mL, p < 0.001). Multivariable analysis showed that the increased asprosin levels were associated with a significantly higher risk of breast cancer after adjustments for family history of breast and/or gynecological cancer, dyslipidemia, and BMI (odds ratio = 157.92; 95% confidence interval = 17.22−1447.96). When 1.78 ng/mL was adopted as the cut-off value, AUC, sensitivity, and specificity of asprosin for BC were 0.943, 91.1%, and 88.1%, respectively. ConclusionsOur findings demonstrate that asprosin is elevated in BC and can thus be an appropriate candidate for breast cancer diagnosis.